PCB Base Materials.

Material specification in PCB design and manufacture is key to ensuring a reliable and repeatable end product, whilst also ensuring that the product cost remains competitive and within budget.

The myriad of PCB material systems available can make the correct selection of material both daunting and difficult to navigate; Pure PCB has the knowledge and experience to assist in the correct selection of base laminate across a wide range of applications.

Selecting Laminate Systems for Rigid Printed Circuit Boards.

One key aspect in ensuring a manufacturable PCB design is to ensure that you select a brand of material that is fully compliant and certified to IPC4101 (Specification for Base Materials for Rigid and Multilayer Printed Boards) A compliant material system will give the confidence that in conjunction with a robust manufacturing process, the chosen material will provide a certified and verifiable level of performance. 

Some of the key aspect characteristics of IPC4101 material systems are shown in the table below 

Many customers choose to specifiy a range of laminate's that are certified for use in the production of their PCB's to IPC4101, and this allows the PCB fabricator to select a material that is freely available and meets any key cost point parameters. A qualified material should also meet the UL criteria for flammability as specified by the UL standard flammability rating "V0"

Having correctly specified the material to be used in your critical PCB product it is important to also establish that your fabricator has achieved UL certification for the stated material system, and that they can provide the relevant UL documentation in support of this.

Some fabricators choose to use materials that they are not UL certified for; Pure PCB utilises only laminates that our manufacturing is fully UL qualified to fabricate (embed UL approved laminates)

Core Critical Aspects in Specifying Material Selection for your PCB Design.

Material selection is a balancing act in ensuring that the chosen laminate exhibits both the correct mechanical and electrical properties commensurate with your design; also taking into consideration the assembly process that the PCB's will be subject to regarding thermal cycling from a soldering perspective. 

Pure PCB specifies and warrants the material used as part of its product relase and all materials used are clearly stated on our First Article Inspection Reports (FAIR)

Pure PCB invest heavily in keeping a wide range of laminate systems in stock to cover a diverse range of requirements and a selection of our current laminate stock can be seen (embed a document)

If you require any further information in regard to laminate selection, then our applications engineers will be able to assist accordingly.