Advantages of FS Technology PCB Manufacturing
FS Tech provides excellent electronics PCB manufacturing services with a focus on quality compliance and cost-effectiveness. From Prototype PCB to large-volume manufacturing, FS Tech aims to meet every client technology needs and comply with quality requirements and related standards’ certification. Here are the reasons to choose us as your China bare PCB fabrication supplier:
- Meticulous service attitude: From design to delivery, there is a person in charge to manage your project.
- Strict PCB manufacturing process: The manufacturing process includes multiple testing links, and operators strictly abide by the quality management specifications formulated by FS Technology.
- Advanced Manufacturing Equipment: Deburring machine, double-sided alkaline etching machine, metal chemical cleaning machine, etching production line…
- Advanced Manufacturing Technology: NPTH and Double Side PTH
- Large capacity: The line accommodates orders from 5,000 to 500,000+
- No MOQ requirement: We not only accept PCB prototype fabrication service, even MOQ is 1 we will provide you with excellent service.
- Competitive pricing: We hardly aim for profit when it comes to prototypes.
PCB sample made by FS Technology
Circuit Board Manufacturing Capability
FS Tech will penalize different shape PCB designs in standard size ratio to minimize PCB manufacturing costs. FS Tech helped numerous clients in the past, based on extensive design and manufacturing experience, in debugging common issues of their design and enabling them for mass production.
Being a top PCB manufacturer in China, FS tech aims to meet customers’ needs in printed circuit board manufacturing using various materials and technologies, and unswervingly complying with customer quality and certification standards.FS Tech targets customers’ aim of quality and delivery of efficient PCBs, as well as ensuring fast delivery at a competitive cost.
We won a lot of PCB projects from Aerospace, Marine, military, industry, Automotive, and security due to our technologies and services. The following is a summary of FS Technology’s PCB manufacturing capabilities:
| Manufacturing Materials | Capability | |
| FR4 PCB | Tg 135 | KB6160,S1141 |
| Tg 150 | KB6165,S1000H | |
| Tg 170 | KB6167,S1000-2M、IT180A,TU768 | |
| Halogen Free Fr4 | Tg 150 | S1150G |
| Tg 170 | S1165,TU862HF | |
| Ceramic Filling High Frequency Material | Rogers4003C/4350B | |
| PTFE High Frequency Material | Rogers Series/Arlon Series/Taconic Series/F4BM Series | |
| Special PP | NFPP: Arlon 49 N,VT47 | |
| Ceramic Filling PP: Rogers4450F | ||
| PTFE PP：Arlon6700、Taconic FR-27 | ||
| Rigid PI Material | Arlon85N、VT901 | |
| Metal Base Board | Bergquist Al base/Chinese Brand Al base/Copper base | |
| Material Mixed Laminate | 4 layers — 10 layers (FR4+Ro4350, FR4+Aluminium, FR4+ FPC) | |
| Note: Other special materials can be processed and produced by means of customer supply or purchasing. | ||
| Item | Standard | Advanced | Innovative | ||
| Solder Mask Dam | IC Space (Green Color) | 4 | 4 | 3 | |
| IC Space (Other Color) | 5 | 5 | 4 (blue oil) | ||
| Liquid Photoimageable (LPI) Solder Mask Registration | 3mil | 2mil | 1.5mil | ||
| Thickness | T＞1.0 mm | ±10% | ±10% | ±8% | |
| Tolerance | T≤1.0 mm | ±0.1 | ±0.1 | ±0.1 | |
| Board Thickness (mm) | 0.5-5.0 | 0.4-6.5 | 0.25-10 | ||
| Hole Aspect Ratio | 10:01 | 12:01 | 20:01 | ||
| Via Size For Plug Solder Mask | 0.25-0.5 | 0.20-0.5 | 0.15-0.6 | ||
| Via Size For Plug Resin And Capped Copper | 0.25-0.5 | 0.20-0.5 | 0.075-0.6 | ||
| Panel Size (mm) | 457×609 | 457×609 | 600×1000 | ||
| Bow And Twist | ≤0.75% | ≤0.75% | ≤0.5% | ||
| Item | Basic copper thickness | Line Width/Space |
| Minimum inner line width distance | 1/3 OZ | 2.7/2.7 |
| 0.5 OZ | 3/3 | |
| 1.0 OZ | 3.5/3.5 | |
| 2.0 OZ | 5/5.5 | |
| 3.0 OZ | 6/7.5 | |
| 4.0 OZ | 7/11.5 | |
| 5.0 OZ | 10/16 | |
| 6.0 OZ | 10/10.5 | |
| 10 OZ | 18/20 | |
| 12 OZ | 22/24 | |
| Hole to Line Spacing | 4 layers | ≥6mil(1 core) |
| 6 layers | ≥7mil(2 core) | |
| 8 layers | ≥7mil(3 core) | |
| 10 layers and above | ≥8mil | |
| Line Width/Space Accuracy | Non-impedance plate ±20%; Impedance plate ±10% | |
| Alignment accuracy | ±25um（CCD） | |
| Item | Basic copper thickness | Line Width/Space |
| Minimum outer line (mil) | 1/3 OZ | 3/3 |
| 0.5 OZ | 3.5/3.6 | |
| 1.0 OZ | 4/4.4 | |
| 2.0 OZ | 5/5.5 | |
| 3.0 OZ | 6/7.5 | |
| 4.0 OZ | 14/12 | |
| 5.0 OZ | 18/17 | |
| 6.0 OZ | 13/11 | |
| 10 OZ | 16/26 | |
| 12 OZ | 24/32 | |
| The minimum line width of the outer etched word | Base Copper H OZ; 8mil | |
| Base Copper 1 OZ; 10mil | ||
| Base Copper 2 OZ; 12mil | ||
| Line Width/Space Accuracy | Non-impedance plate ±20%; Impedance plate ±10% | |
| Alignment accuracy | ≤24um（LDI） | |
| Item | High volume PCB manufacturing | PCB Prototyping | |
| Through Hole | Hole Diameter (max) | 6.5mm, thickness <6.4mm | Greater than 6.5mm (hole expansion process) |
| Hole Diameter (min) | 0.15mm，thickness<1.0mm | 0.15mm, thickness<1.6mm | |
| Hole tolerance | NPTH±0.05mm, PTH hole±0.075mm, crimping hole±0.05mm | ||
| Hole tolerance | ±0.05mm | ||
| Thickness ratio | 8:01 | 20:01 | |
| Minimum Hole Spacing | The same grid > 8mil; non-same grid ≥ 12mil | The same grid ≥ 6mil, not the same grid ≥ 10mil | |
| Deep hole control | Minimum depth control hole diameter | 0.155mm | |
| Depth Control Accuracy | 0.1mm | 0.05mm | |
| Hole Depth Thickness Diameter Ratio | ≤0.6:1 | ≤0.8:1 | |
| Control depth groove depth tolerance | ±0.15mm | ±0.1mm | |
| Stepped hole | Step hole diameter tolerance | 0.1mm | 0.05mm |
| Step hole depth tolerance | 0.2mm | 0.1mm | |
| Laser Hole | Laser Hole Copper | ≥10um | |
| Hole Diameter range | 0.1mm-0.15mm | 0.076mm-0.15mm | |
| Laser blind hole thickness to diameter ratio | ≤0.6:1 | ≤0.8:1 | |
| Outer line width and line spacing | 3.5/4mil | 3.5/3.5mil | |
| Inner line width and line spacing | 3.0/3.5mil | 3.0/3.3mil | |
| Laser Blind Hole Medium Thickness | 2.5-4mil | 2.5-5mil | |
| back drilling | Depth Tolerance | ±0.1mm | |
| Position Tolerance | ±0.1mm | ||
| Hole to outer line distance | ≥0.15mm | ≥0.125mm | |
| Hole to inner line distance | ≥0.175mm | ≥0.15mm | |
| Countersunk Hole | Countersunk drill diameter | The 45° countersunk bit has a diameter of 4.5mm | |
| 60°, 82°, 90° countersunk bit diameter is 6.35mm | |||
| 100° countersunk bit diameter is 6.5mm | |||
| Outer Aperture Accuracy | ±0.2mm | ||
| PTH Countersunk Ring Width | 8mil | ||
| PTH countersunk hole distance line | 12mil | ||
| conical hole | Opening Tolerance | ±0.2mm | |
| Aperture angle | 45°、60°、90° | ||
| Slot | Minimum Slot | 0.5mm | |
| Item | High volume PCB manufacturing | PCB Prototyping | |
| V-CUT | Angle | 20°、30°、45°、60° | |
| Jumping Knife Distance | ≥8 mm | ||
| Board Thickness | 0.4 mm-3.0mm | ||
| Thickness accuracy | ±0.1 mm | ±0.05 mm | |
| Gong board | Minimum gong cutter diameter | 0.6 mm | |
| Control deep gong plate thickness | ≥0.4 mm | ||
| Depth tolerance of deep gong plate | ±0.15 mm | ±0.1 mm | |
| Tolerance of deep gong plate size | ±0.13 mm | ||
| hypotenuse | The outer layer of the top of the gold finger is copper | Bevel depth +0.2 mm | |
| The inner layer of the top of the gold finger is copper | Bevel depth +0.4 mm | ||
| Angle (tolerance ±5°) | 20°, 30°, 45°, hypotenuse angle is usually 30° | ||
| Item | Standard | Advanced | Innovative | |
| ENIG | Nickel Thickness(um) | 2.0-5.0 | 3.0-5.0 | 3.8-7.62 |
| Gold Thickness(uinch) | 1.0-2.0 | 2.0-3.0 | 3.0-5.0 | |
| Hard Gold(Au Thickness) | Normal Golden Finger（um） | 0.15 | 0.8 | 3.0 |
| Selective Hard Gold (um) | 0.15 | 0.8 | 2.0 | |
| ENEPIG | Nickel Thickness(um) | 2.0-5.0 | ||
| Palladium Thickness(uinch) | 4.0-20.0 | |||
| Gold Thickness(uinch) | 1.0-5.0 | |||
| Plating Gold | Nickel Thickness(um) | 2.0-7.62 | ||
| Gold Thickness(uinch) | 1.0-5.0 | |||
| Immersion Tin | Tin Thickness(um) | 0.8-1.2 | ||
| Immersion Ag | Sliver Thickness(um) | 0.15-0.4 | ||
| OSP(um) | 0.2-0.6 | |||
| Tin Lead HASL(um) | 2.0-40.0 | |||
| Lead Free HASL(um) | 2.0-40.0 | |||
| Note：Tin Lead /LF HASL panel size should less than ≤500×600 mm，thickness≥0.6 mm；Hard Gold panel size≤400×500 mm，the other surface treatment panel size less than 500×900 mm | ||||
| Item | Standard | Advanced | Innovative |
| Back Drilling | YES | YES | YES |
| Heavy Copper PCB with Blind/Burried Via | YES | YES | YES |
| Step Slots | YES | YES | YES |
| POFV | YES | YES | YES |
| Plated Half Holes/Edge Plating | YES | YES | YES |
| Hybrid Material Lamination | YES | YES | YES |
| 1-2L Lead-time | Sample Expedited 24 hours and 48 hours, Normal2-5 days, Mass production 5-7days |
| 4- 8L Lead-time | Sample Expedited 48 hours 72 hours, Normal 5-7days,Mass production 7-10 days |
| 10-18L Lead-time | 10-15 days,Special circumstances based on the actual PCB design |
| More than 20L Lead-time | 15-20 days ,Special circumstances based on the actual PCB design |
| Acceptable File Format | ALL Gerber Files、POWERPCB、PROTEL、PADS2000、CAD、AUTOCAD、ORCAD、P-CAD、CAM-350、CAM2000 etc. |
Comprehensive Turnkey Bare PCB Manufacturing Services
How to ensure the quality of PCB manufacturing?
When Customers entering FS Technology, they’re eagerly looking for quality PCB manufacturing service providers and expect them to consistently produce their PCBs to strict manufacturing standards. Our customers simply put everything they have into selling the products they know, and we in turn use our advanced skills to precisely manufacture the PCBs for those products.
From the very start of the PCB manufacturing & fabrication process, quality assurance is always a priority for FS Technology, especially through abiding by internationally recognized authoritative standards & third-party certifications. FS Technology has passed ISO9001 certification, ISO14001 environmental management system certification, ISO/TS16949 automotive quality management system certification and ISO13485 medical device quality management system certification. In addition to the various certifications that FS Technology has received, there is an internal quality control standard and review system that ensures that the highest standard of turnkey PCB fabrication and assembly is consistently maintained. For over 10 years, FS Technology has thoroughly examined and reviewed these standards, running them through the company’s developmental & growth phases where up to this point, FS Technology has full confidence in the quality control of products. This process can be traced back down to the fundamental, individual stages involved in PCB board manufacturing, where all personnel in each workstation abides by these quality control standards, which involve: inspection of program files, declaration of conformity, static control processes, quality management manuals, PCBA manufacturing planning schedules, PCBA production record filing, material inspection specification & specific/standardized work instructions. FS Technology has an on-board, specialized team of engineers that are currently working around the clock to ensure that any and all checks of your product have been completed and if any potential issues are detected at any phase of the PCB manufacturing process, the respective customer is informed in a timely manner before proceeding to subsequent steps.
At all points in the manufacturing process, from PCB selection to out-of-factory inspection, constant real-time communication is maintained, allowing for any alterations of customers’ needs to be performed and continuous monitoring of production progress. Plus, the highly-trained technical team of FS Technology offers decades of experience in this industry and will work with customers to resolve any pending problems, update customers on their product development and aim to optimise their experience with FS Technology’s PCB manufacturing service. Please refer to this article to review more about the start-to-finish quality control measures that are actively taken by FS Technology.
How FS Technology produces PCBs
The process of PCB manufacturing varies from board to board and may vastly differ when manufacturing more specialized types of PCBs. However, the basic concept of PCB manufacturing is constant and can be simplified into two main parts: PCB fabrication and PCB assembly. PCB board fabrication can be defined as the procedure used to transcribe the specific desired circuitry onto the physical structure of a circuit board, resulting in a bare printed circuit board. From there, a complete PCBA is only produced after PCB assembly, which involves soldering or electrically connecting all the components onto the board that make up the circuit and ultimately, the end product.
Before starting PCB fabrication, a thorough review of the customer’s circuit design, schematics & any supporting fabrication and assembly files is done by in-house engineers to guarantee that the PCB manufacturing process can be done without any errors at any stage. Only after these steps are completed can the PCB board assembly manufacturing initiate as an issue that is identified early can help prevent downstream issues from occurring. Multilayer PCB fabrication involves multiple highly-detailed steps that are very specific and completed in a controlled manner to ensure a top-quality, standardized product that performs both electrically and structurally superior. This complete production process includes the following:
- Cutting
- Imaging
- Inner layer etching
- Inner AOI inspection
- Layups
- Hole drilling
- Hole metallization
- Plating
- Outer circuit manufacturing
- Graphic plating
- Outer layer etching
- Outer AOI
- Solder masking
- Silkscreen application
- Finishing
- Product testing
- Profiling
- Packaging and storage
Cutting
The very first step of the PCB fabrication process is the cutting of the raw material of PCB, known as copper-clad laminate, into an appropriate size according to the board design. Nowadays, this is a fully automated process where the specific requirements of the PCB (no. of layers, PCB thickness, spacing between components, materials used, etc.) can be inputted into a machine, which can then cut the board accordingly. After the cutting of the board, the edges of the board are often ground to refine any sharp edges and the board is baked under high temperature (100–130 °C), a process which is done to remove any excess moisture (due to condensation) from the copper plating.
Imaging
As one of the initial steps in PCB fabrication, imaging is necessary to define the circuit traces that make up the circuit design for the PCB. Traditionally, this is done by using a thin film layer which is exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light to transfer images to form the traces. For multilayer PCB, laser direct imaging (LDI) is often done which involves the use of a highly-focused laser beam to do the imaging of the circuit design on the board. LDI typically is more precise compared to traditional imaging and can offer a much higher resolution because of the use of software.
PCB Inner layer etching
Etching is defined as the removal of excess copper (copper that is not used to make the pads or traces on the board) from a circuit board layer, typically through the use of a potent alkaline solution. Etching is a highly-controlled process and to prevent any unwanted etching of traces, a photoresist is applied during imaging that protects any traces and sensitive regions during etching, and is then removed after etching.
Inner AOI inspection
The above steps are the manufacture of the inner circuit of the PCB. After these processes, the first AOI optical inspection is required to ensure the integrity of the circuit. AOI is the abbreviation of Automated Optical Inspection, and it uses optical principles to find circuit board manufacturing defects through professional equipment, and is one of the most reliable inspection methods.
Layer Stackup
The most troublesome part of manufacturing circuit boards is stacking, but single layer PCB fabrication does not have this trouble. This step involves the aligning, bonding and lamination of multiple layers on a PCB as certain board types (e.g. high-density interconnect HDI PCB) require specific PCB stack-ups. The lamination process is usually done under high heat and pressure, which is software-controlled and involves a wide variety of materials.
Hole Drilling
The PCB drilling process involves the precise creation of vias (micro vias, buried vias, blind vias etc.), holes (component & mechanical holes) and other slots in the circuit board. Due to the extreme precision required, laser drilling is commonly used for consistency and efficiency in this stage, as it is often the most time-consuming & complex. PCB drilling is done according to the parameters that customers select when they send in their fabrication files as the correct materials used, hole dimensions & types of holes are programmed into the machine.
Hole metallization
A key element of PCBs is the electrical conductivity between each of the layers and after hole drilling, it is important that the holes are prepared by electroplating. This is done through various techniques but the two main processes are plated through hole (PTH) and blackhole electroplating. With PTH electroplating, it is based on a chemical redox reaction where a layer of copper can be deposited onto the hole. Due to copper being used, this type of method offers excellent electrical conductivity and is commonly used in industry today due to the ability to alter the parameters of the electroplating easily (thickness). With regard to blackhole electroplating, graphite or black carbon powder is directly applied to the hole surface which can then absorb the powder and therefore create a conductive layer. Although the conductive properties may be less strong than the PTH method, it is considerably safer to use with a lower investment cost and a simpler treatment process. However, both of these methods are still widely used in the PCB fabrication process for multiple types of boards (two-layer PCB boards, HDI boards, etc.).
Plating
This step involves the deposition of copper, a conductive material, onto the rigid PCB to establish conductivity within vias or holes found on the board in addition to providing an electrical connection/bonding between the multiple layers of the PCB. By filling the drilled holes or vias with copper, conductive walls are formed that allow an electrical interaction between components and the board circuitry.
Outer circuit manufacturing
After the internal circuitry of the PCB has been manufactured, the outer surfaces of the PCB will require specific processing and although inner and outer circuit manufacturing share some similarities, there are distinct characteristics. To prepare the circuit board before etching, dry film lamination is performed and the type of laminate used differs from the inner layers as the design requirements may vary. Similar to what was described with the inner layers, a layer of photoresist is applied to the copper-clad laminate under high temperatures and a pressurized condition. The lamination process is then followed up by UV light exposure to strongly bind the dry film to the board.
Graphic plating
This is a secondary plating process (also known as pattern plating) which is typically done after the dry film lamination process (previous step) is carried out to plate the additional dry film parts. Before graphic plating is performed, the surface of the board needs to be prepared with a variety of treatment methods which includes surface degreasing, micro-etching, and acid pickling treatment. Due to copper being applied during the first plating process, a layer of tin is now added to prevent the plated, exposed copper from oxidizing and to protect all of the necessary conductive material from being removed during outer layer etching.
Outer layer etching
Similar to inner layer etching, the removal of excess copper is done at this stage but is done to the outermost layer of the circuit board. Since the outer layer is pre-plated with a copper film during hole drilling and electroplating, there is typically a thin layer of tin or lead that protects areas of the copper that is used for the board traces & pads. Outer layer etching will remove the excess copper without damaging the necessary copper layers underneath the tin/lead layer for the electrical connection of components.
Outer AOI
One of the most vital product testing steps is an outer automated optical inspection, which is done by advanced cameras and machines. This step mainly checks for physical defects and possible component placement errors by processing the PCB through the use of software that can identify any differences from what the sensors may be picking up to the board parameters. Whether it is short circuits, missing components, solder thickness errors, spacing errors etc, outer AOI is a low-cost, high-accuracy method of checking the board and ensuring the top quality of the product before it is sent out to customers. Outer AOI is used for all board types and can function well with both through-hole and SMT designs.
Solder masking
By applying a thin coating on the outer solderable surfaces of the PCB, this layer helps to prevent oxidation of the copper and provides isolation of conductive materials that are close in proximity to each other to avoid arcing.
Silkscreen application
As one of the final stages in the PCB manufacturing process, printing the silkscreen, which includes any component markings, logos, text or any other visual (readable) elements, can be a great asset in the identification & assembly of the PCB. A custom silkscreen can be designed for aesthetical purposes or to aid in assembly and is usually applied through the use of an inkjet printer.
Finishing
The final step in PCB manufacturing involves the application of a surface finish on the board to protect the copper traces and any sensitive regions from handling & environmental conditions. Oftentimes, customers will select their preferred surface finish depending on the board application & compatibility with the components used. At FS Technology, a large variety of surface finishes are offered which include: tin-lead hot air solder levelling (tin-lead HASL), lead-free HASL, organic solderability preservatives (OSP), immersion silver, immersion tin, electroless Nickel Immersion Gold (ENIG), hard gold, electroless nickel electroless palladium immersion gold (ENEPIG), etc.
Product testing
PCB testing is a critical post-production step that ensures proper functionality and production of the product before it is sent out to customers and this is done by both specialized equipment and expert in-house engineers that perform a thorough testing process. Some PCB testing methods used may include in-circuit testing, visual inspections, flying probe testing, automated optical inspection (AOI), functional testing, automated x-ray inspection, burn-in testing and other more specific tests (depending on the board application). With the series of tests conducted, the PCB products will be tested for any shorts, component issues, incompatibility during production, physical defects, soldering errors, overall board function, etc before it is shipped out to customers.
Profiling
In order to meet the products’ dimensional requirements (specific sizes & shapes of the boards), profiling is carried out to mechanically form a small rectangular cut through the board so that the PCB can be separated from the production panel and into individual panels (according to the dimensional requirements). There are three main types of profiling: milling/routing, V-scoring and punch profiling. Except for punch profiling, the two other methods utilize a very specific CNC machine to make the cuts, whether it is a rectangular cut (milling) or a triangular cut (V-scoring). Punch profiling, on the other hand, is a much more efficient method as it makes use of a punch machine to craft a standard hole in the PCB.
Packaging and storage
After the PCB manufacturing and testing process takes place, the products are packaged safely using a variety of packing materials (bubble bags, electrostatic bags, vacuum packs, etc.) to prevent any static & physical damage to the finished PCB product during shipping/transportation.
Summarize
This page provides details of FS Tech’s PCB manufacturing capabilities and production process and summarizes them here:
Available PCB Types:1-58L layer circuit board; rigid, flexible, rigid flex PCB; Nelco, Teflon, Arlon, Taconic, Aluminum, FR-4, Rogers PCB; High-density connection, RF board, high-frequency PCB;
Material Mixed Laminate：4 layers -10 layers (FR4+Ro4350, FR4+Aluminium, FR4+ FPC);
Services Available: Design, Modification, Manufacturing, Assembly; Testing, Packaging, Shipping, Conformal Coating; Prototyping, Small Batch, High Batch;
Manufacturing Advantage: China PCB Fabrication Vendors, large output, cheap and fast; turnkey PCB manufacturing and semi-turnkey services;
FS Technology currently does not provide online quotation service, if you are interested in our PCB or PCBA manufacturing services, please contact our sales via email, they will send you a price list within 2-3 days!
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