Module IX

Fabrication of integrated circuits:

Introduction – Fabrication – MOS – NMOS,
PMOS, CMOS, Ga-As Technologies, Printed
circuit boards-Fabrication (Single layer only)
– Lamination, printing (photo and screen
printing) and mechanical operation
 Integrated Circuit
• Integrated circuit usually called as IC
• Popularly known as silicon chip (or) computer chip
(or) microchip
• Integrated circuit - microscopic array of electronic
circuits and electronic components (resistors,
capacitor, inductors, diodes, transistor, ..) that has
been diffused (or) implanted onto the surface of a
single crystal, or chip, of semiconducting material
such as silicon.

Integrated circuit tiny electronics circuit used to perform

the several operations like Amplifier, timer, counter,
oscillator, microcontroller or a computer memory
 Why it is Integrated Circuit ?
 It is called an integrated circuit because the components
(transistors, diodes, resistors and capacitors), circuits, and
base material are all made together, or integrated, out of a
single piece of silicon, as opposed to a discrete circuit in
which the components are made separately from different
materials and assembled later
These miniature circuits have advantages of
 low cost,
 high reliability, low power requirements, and high
processing speeds compared to the vacuum tubes and
Transistors which preceded them
 Integrated circuits are the building blocks of modern
electronic devices such as computers and cellphones
Components
Resistor
Passive two terminals electrical component used for limiting
or regulating the flow of electricity in a circuit (or)
Resistor is used to resistance the flow of current.

Capacitor
Two-terminal electrical device that can store energy in the
form of an electric charge

Inductor - Also called as choke (or) coil (or) reactor

Passive electronic component that temporarily stores energy
in a magnetic field when electric current flows through
the inductor's coil

Diode
Two-terminal electronic component that conducts electricity
primarily in one direction
 Semiconductors

• Semiconductors are materials which have a conductivity

between conductors (generally metals) and
nonconductors or insulators (such as most ceramics).
• They have conductivities in the range of 10-4 – 104 S/m
• Semiconductors can be pure elements, such as silicon or
germanium, or compounds such as gallium arsenide or
cadmium selenide.
• In a process called doping, small amounts of impurities
are added to pure semiconductors causing large changes
in the conductivity of the material.
Diamond cubic crystal structure
 What is doping ?
To increase electron or hole concentration

If the element used for doping has at least one more valence electron
than the host semiconductor, then a n-type (negative type)
semiconductor is created - extra electron is available to carry a
current
If the semiconductor is doped with an element having at least one
less electron than the host material, then a p-type (positive type)
semiconductor is formed - a hole will be formed in the valence band
 Diode
 The most common type of diode uses a p-n junction.
 In this type of diode, one material (n) in which electrons are charge
carriers abuts a second material (p) in which holes (places depleted
of electrons that act as positively charged particles) act as charge
carriers.
 At their interface, a depletion region is formed across which
electrons diffuse to fill holes in the p-side - this stops the further
flow of electrons.
 When this junction is forward biased (that is, a positive voltage is
applied to the p-side), electrons can easily move across the junction
to fill the holes, and a current flows through the diode.
 When the junction is reverse biased (that is, a negative voltage is
applied to the p-side), the depletion region widens and electrons
cannot easily move across. The current remains very small until a
certain voltage (the breakdown voltage) is reached and the current
suddenly increases.
Components
Transistor
A Transistor is a three terminal semiconductor device that
regulates current (or) voltage flow and acts as a switch or gate
for signals

Emitter Base Collector

• The left hand side - Emitter. • The middle material - Base. • The right side - Collector.
• This has a moderate size and • This is thin and lightly doped. • Function: collecting the
is heavily doped • Function: to pass the majority carriers.
• Function: to supply a number carriers from the emitter to the • This is a bit larger in size
of majority carriers, i.e. either collector. than emitter and base. It
electrons or holes. • This is indicated by the letter B. is moderately doped.
• As this emits electrons, it is called as • This is indicated by the
an Emitter. letter C.
• This is simply indicated with the
letter E.
 Background - IC
• The first integrated circuits were created in the late 1950s in
response to a demand from the military for miniaturized
electronics to be used in missile control systems.
• At the time, transistors and printed circuit boards were the
state-of-the-art electronic technology.
• Although transistors made many new electronic applications
possible, engineers were still unable to make a small enough
package for the large number of components and circuits
required in complex devices like sophisticated control systems
and handheld programmable calculators.
• Several companies - competition to produce a breakthrough in
miniaturized electronics.
• Integrated circuit was finally patented in 1959 .
 Background - integrated circuits
• After the invention of the IC in 1959, the number of
components and circuits that could be incorporated into a
single chip doubled every year for several years.
• The first integrated circuits contained only up to a dozen
components. The process that produced these early ICs was
known as small scale integration, or SSI.
• By the mid-1960s, medium scale integration, MSI, produced
ICs with hundreds of components.
• This was followed by large scale integration techniques, or LSI,
which produced ICs with thousands of components and
made the first microcomputers possible.
 Background - integrated circuits
• The first microcomputer chip, often called a microprocessor,
was developed by Intel Corporation in 1969 - went into
commercial production in 1971 as the Intel 4004.
• Intel introduced their 8088 chip in 1979, followed by the Intel
80286, 80386, and 80486.
• In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the designations 286, 386,
and 486 were well known to computer users as reflecting
increasing levels of computing power and speed.
• Intel's Pentium chip is the latest in this series and reflects an
even higher level.
 IC’s Based on the size
(or the no. of components)

1. Small scale integration (SSI):-Up to 100 components

2. Medium scale integration (MSI):-100 –3k component

3. Large scale integration(LSI):-3k -10k components

4. Very large scale integration (VLSI):-10k-100k components

5. Ultra large scale integration (ULSI):-more than 1M

components.
 IC’s Based on the Signal types

1. Analog IC’s

2. Digital IC’s

3. Mixed(Analog + Digital) IC’s

 Integrated Ciruits
Advantages Disadvantages
Small in size due to the reduced
1
device dimension
IC resistors have a limited range 1
2 Low weight due to very small size

Low power requirement due to

3 lower dimension and lower
threshold power requirement Generally inductors (L) cannot 2
be formed using IC
Low cost due to large-scale
4
production

High reliability due to the Transformers cannot be formed

3
5 absence of a solder joint using IC

Facilitates integration of large

6
number of devices
Improves the device
7 performance even at high-
frequency region
Fabrication of integrated circuits
 Fabrication of integrated circuits

Silicon wafer
Epitaxial growth Oxidation
01 preparation 02 03

Isolation
Photolithography Metallisation
04 05 diffusion 06

Mounting and
Circuit probing Encapsulation
07 08 packaging 09
 Silicon wafer Fabrication of integrated circuits
01 preparation

Crystal growth and wafer preparation is the

most fundamental step in device fabrication.
Various crystal growth techniques are used to form the bulk crystal.
One of the methods is the Czochralski process.
• A small seed crystal of silicon is attached to the top of a rod
and lowered into a crucible of molten silicon to which acceptor
impurities have been added.
• As the rod is very slowly pulled out of the ‘melt’ under carefully
controlled conditions - a single p-type or n-type crystal ingot of
the order of several inches has grown.
• The ingot is subsequently sliced into round wafers to form the
substrate on which all integrated components are fabricated.
• One side of each wafer is lapped and polished to eliminate
surface imperfections before proceeding with the next process.
02 Epitaxial growth Fabrication of integrated circuits

• Epitaxy, derived from Greek epi ‘upon’ and taxis ‘arrangement’, refers
to the growth of crystals on a crystalline substrate that determines
their orientation.
• Epitaxy involves the extension of the substrate lattice by the
overgrowth of a layer of identical material - this is known as
homoepitaxy (or) autoepitaxy. For example,Si on Si or Ga As on Ga As.
• If the epitaxial layer and the substrate are chemically and often
crystallographically different, then this is called heteroepitaxy. For
example, Si (diamond lattice) on sapphire (hexagonal) or Ga As on Si.
• The epitaxial process is used to form a layer of single-crystal silicon on
an existing crystal wafer of the same or different material.
02 Epitaxial growth Fabrication of integrated circuits

• Epitaxial growth is performed in a special furnace called the reactor.

Silicon wafers are inserted in the reactor and heated to a temperature
of 900–1000 °C. The temperature varies from substrate to substrate.

• N type Si layer of about 15 mm thickness is grown on the p-type

substrate (step 1)
• It is done by placing the wafer in a furnace (1200 °C) and
introducing a gas containing n-type impurities (phosphorous)
03 Oxidation Fabrication of integrated circuits

• Process which converts Si on the wafer into SiO2

• As a passivating layer [make (a metal or other
substance) unreactive by altering the surface layer or
coating the surface with a thin inert layer] SiO2
03 Oxidation Fabrication of integrated circuits

• A thin layer of SiO2 is grown over the n-type by exposing the Si

wafer to O2 atmosphere at 1000 °C in furnace - DRY
OXIDATION : Si + O2 → SiO2 or water vapour at elevated
temperature - WET OXIDATION: Si + 2H2O → SiO2 + 2H2
• The thickness of the oxide layers is generally in the order of
0.02 mm to 2 mm.
• Process temperature, impurity concentration, and processing
time are several of the factors that influence the thickness of
the SiO2 layer.
• SiO2 layers are used as high quality insulators or masks for
ion implantation
04 Photolithography Fabrication of integrated circuits

• Photolithography is the optical process of transferring

geometric shapes on a mask to the surface of a silicon wafer.
• The steps for the photolithographic process are: photo resist
coating, soft-baking, mask alignment, UV exposure and
development, and hard-baking.
• In the starting of the photolithographic process, the wafer is
coated with a uniform film of a photosensitive emulsion.
• The photo resist is slightly hardened by soft-baking and then
selectively removed by projection of UV light through mask.
• The monolithic fabrication technique requires the selective
removal of the insulator layer of SiO2 to form openings
through which impurities can be diffused.
 04 Photolithography Fabrication of integrated circuits

Photoresists

Developer solution:
an aqueous alkaline solution
containing a water-soluble organic
base free from metallic constituents

The positive resist is exposed with UV light Negative resists behave in just the
wherever the underlying material is to be removed opposite manner
Exposure to the UV light changes the chemical Exposure to the UV light causes the
structure of the resist so that it becomes more negative resist to become
soluble in the developer polymerized, and more difficult to
The exposed resist is then washed away by the dissolve
developer solution, leaving windows of the bare Therefore, the negative resist remains
underlying material on the surface wherever it is exposed,
The mask, therefore, contains an exact copy of the and the developer solution removes
pattern which is to remain on the wafer only the unexposed portions
Photolithography
After Photolithography
05 Isolation diffusion Fabrication of integrated circuits

Used to form source, drain and channel regions in an MOS

transistors
p-type impurities are diffused into the opening by isolation
diffusion process
After diffusion of the p-type impurities, the polymerized
photoresist is removed by the mechanical abrasion or by treating
it with H2SO4
This p-type diffusion results in an isolated island of n-type layers
in which transistors/other components are fabricated
05 Isolation diffusion Fabrication of integrated circuits

Diffusion and ion implantation are two methods of introducing

impurities to semiconductors (Si) to control the majority type of the
carrier and the resistivity of layers
In diffusion, dopant atoms move from surface into Silicon by
means of the concentration gradient. It is via substitutional or
interstitial diffusion mechanisms
In ion implantation, dopant atoms are added forcefully into
Silicon by injecting an energetic ion beam

Diffusion - high-temperature process while

ion implantation - low-temperature process

Dopant concentration and the junction depth can be

controlled in ion implantation , but it cannot be controlled in
the diffusion process

Diffusion has an isotropic dopant profile whereas ion

implantation has an anisotropic dopant profile
06 Metallisation Fabrication of integrated circuits

• making interconnection between various components

– Aluminum is usually use for the metallization of most ICs as it offers
several advantages.
1) It is relatively a good conductor
2) it is easy to deposit aluminum films using vacuum deposition.
3) It makes good mechanical bonds with silicon.

o Carried out by evaporating Aluminium over the entire surface and

then selectively etching away the Aluminium leaving behind the
desired interconnection and bonding pad
o The up-most aluminium layer is used to provide interconnections
between the different components used in the IC
o The structure then provides the connected strips to which the leads
are attached
o The same photoresist technique is also used here to etch away the
unwanted aluminium areas
06 Metallisation Fabrication of integrated circuits
07 Circuit probing Fabrication of integrated circuits

• Performance of each IC fabricated on a wafer is

checked electrically by placing probes on the
bonding pads
• Faulty chips are marked and discarded after the
wafer is scribed (done by diamond tool) and broken
down into individual chips
08 Mounting and Fabrication of integrated circuits
packaging

• The individual chips are very small and

brittle, therefore they can’t be
handled directly
• Hence it is soldered to a Gold plated
header through which Leads have been
connected
Packaging is done according to the dimension of the product type, and the
requirements of the manufacturer.
The wafer is certified then the wafer is broken into small individual dies.
Small wires are bonded to connect pads to the external connection pins.
The most common packaging is
dual input packaging or DIP, mostly used in digital IC.
Pin grid array (PGA) and
leadless chip carrier (LCC) packages are used in modern VLSI design.
09 Encapsulation Fabrication of integrated circuits

• Carried out to protect IC against mechanical

and chemical damage when it is in use
• It is done by placing a cap over the circuit and
sealing in an inert atmosphere
MOSFET
Field Effect Transistor (FET)
• FET is a three-terminal Active semiconductor device, where
the output current is controlled by an electric field generated
by the input voltage
 MOSFET
• MOSFET: The metal–oxide–semiconductor field-
effect transistor (MOSFET, MOS-FET, or MOS FET) is a
type of transistor used for amplifying or switching
electronic signals.
• The channel can contain electrons (called an
nMOSFET or nMOS), or holes (called a pMOSFET or
pMOS)
nMOS
 nMOS
• n-type metal oxide semiconducting transistor.
• In nMOS, the source and the drain are made of n-type
semiconductors while the bulk is made of a p-type
semiconductor
• nMOS is built on a p-type substrate with n-type source
and drain diffused on it
• In nMOS, the majority of carriers are electrons -
– When a high voltage is applied to the gate, the nMOS will
conduct
– When a low voltage is applied to the gate, nMOS will not
conduct
 Fabrication of nMOS
Step 1
• Processing is done on thin wafer cut from single crystal of
high priority.
• Since it is nMOS, p-impurities are introduced with
impurity conc. of 1015 atoms/cm3 to 1016 atoms/cm3

Step 2
• A thick layer of SiO2 (1 μm thick) is ground on the wafer
to protect the surface
• The insulated substrate onto which other layers may be
deposited and patterned.
 Fabrication of nMOS
Step 3 • Photolithography is done – Surface is
covered with photoresist material

Step 4
• The photoresist is exposed to UV light through a mask
which defines the regions (source, gate, drain)into which
diffusion is to take place with transmission channels.

UV passed – Area exposed to light hardened (polymerized)

others unaffected (unpolymerized)
 Fabrication of nMOS
Step 5
• Removal of polymerized and unpolymerized Photoresist
together with underlying SiO2 by etching with HF

Step 6
• Thin oxide layer of polysilicon is grown over the entire
chip surface by CVD technique
 Fabrication of nMOS
Step 7 • The gate is formed by photolithography

Step 8
• The n-type impurities are diffused in the exposed
p-substrate from source and drain
• Diffusion is done by heating the wafer to a high
temperature and passing gas containing desired n-type
impurities over the surface
 Fabrication of nMOS
Step 9
Thick oxide layer is grown and then photolithography “contact
cuts” are formed

Step 10
The metal (Al) is deposited over the chip and by
photolithography interconnection pattern is formed
Fabrication of nMOS
 pMOS
• In pMOS, the source and the drain are made of p-type
semiconductors while the bulk is made of an n-type
semiconductor
• P- channel MOSFET (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-
effect transistor) consists of p-type Source and Drain
diffused on an n-type substrate
• The majority of carriers are holes -
– When a high voltage is applied to the gate, the pMOS will not
conduct
– When a low voltage is applied to the gate, the pMOS will
conduct
 nMOS & pMOS
• The PMOS devices are more immune to noise than
NMOS devices
• NMOS is considered to be faster than PMOS, since
the carriers in NMOS, which are electrons, travel
twice as fast as the holes
 CMOS
• Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor
• CMOS consists of both NMOS and PMOS
• Since there are two types of devices in CMOS, it is necessary
to have two electrically isolated regions to accommodate the
n & p-channels
• The standard technique is to form a p-well region in N-
substrate or n-well region in P-substrate
• Well is produced by deep diffusion after the removal of SiO2
layer
• Then a field oxide is grown by local oxidation followed by
polysilicon deposit
 CMOS Fabrication
• The fabrication of CMOS transistors can be done on the
wafer of silicon.
• The diameter of the wafer ranges from 20 mm to
300 mm.
• In this, the Lithography process is the same as the
printing press - on every step, different materials can be
deposited, etched otherwise patterned.
• This process is very simple to understand by viewing the
wafer’s top as well as cross-section within a simplified
assembling method.
• The fabrication of CMOS can be accomplished through
using the technologies namely N-well, P-well, Twin well,
and SOI (Silicon on Insulator).
 CMOS Applications
• CMOS technology has been used for the following digital
IC designs.
• Computer memories, CPUs
• Microprocessor designs
• Flash memory chip designing
• Used to design application-specific integrated circuits
(ASICs)
Gallium–Arsenide (GaAs) Technology
 Advantages of Ga-As over Si
• Electrons race through its crystalline structure faster than
they can move through silicon Cellphones, typically rely on
speedy gallium arsenide chips to process the high-frequency
radio signals that arrive faster than silicon can handle
• Unlike silicon cells, Gallium Arsenide cells are relatively
insensitive to heat
• Alloys made from GaAs using Al, P, Sb, or In have
characteristics complementary to those of GaAs, allowing
great flexibility
• GaAs is very resistant to radiation damage. This, along with
its high efficiency, makes GaAs very desirable for space
applications
 Gallium–Arsenide (GaAs) Technologies
• Si MOS technology has been the main medium for computers for
number of years
• But Si semiconductor has speed limitations which can be overcome
by GaAs technology
• It is a compound semiconductor where two atoms, GaAs are
combined to form the semiconductor
• Ga & As combine and form a III-V direct bandgap semiconductor
with a zinc blende crystal structure
• GaAs high electron mobility and a high saturated electron velocity
compared to silicon, enabling transistors made of gallium arsenide
to function at frequencies over 250 GHz
 Fabrication
• GaAs crystals are grown by using high pressure liquid
encapsulated technique
• The crystals are sliced into thin wafer by using a diamond
saw, followed by lapping (two surfaces are rubbed
together), polishing and wafer scrubbing
• The GaAs substrate is coated with Silicon Nitride, Si3N4
insulator
• This Si3N4 remains on the wafer throughout the
processing steps which allows annealing of GaAs at 900 °C
• An n-type active layer is doped by direct ion implantation
into GaAs semi insulating substrate through the insulating
layer after photolithography and etching
 Fabrication
There are two main implantation steps

i) A shallow high resistivity n-layer implantation

ii) A deep low resistivity n+ layer implantation
 The wafer is then coated with SiO2 by CVD process to
protect against physical damage
 This is followed by annealing in H2 atmosphere (promotes
surface cleaning of oxidized parts) at a temperature of
800-850 oC for 30 minutes
 Then a thin layer of Au/Ge/Pt alloy is coated between
the source and drain by evaporating Au/Ge/Pt alloy
at a temperature of about 450-500 °C
 Finally metallisation is done to make interconnection
between the circuit components
Ga-As IC
Anneal
implant

Au/Ge
/Pt
contac
t
 Disadvantages of GaAs
• GaAs biggest drawback is the high cost of a single-crystal
GaAs substrate which has been a barrier to volume
manufacturing

With the opportunity to participate in the 5G

next generation semiconductor markets,
Gallium arsenide components will achieve
broad economies of scale, making them far
more affordable and more available
 GaAs - Applications
• Gallium arsenide - used to manufacture devices such as
monolithic microwave integrated circuits, microwave
frequency integrated circuits, infrared light-emitting diodes,
solar cells, laser diodes and optical windows
• GaAs have a direct bandgap (top of valence band and bottom
of conduction band close to each other) unlike many other
semiconductors implying it can emit light with high efficiency.
Being a direct bandgap material, it is resistant to radiation
damage enabling its use in optical windows and space
electronics in high power applications
• It is also used as an electrical substrate and offers natural
isolation between circuits and devices. This makes it suitable
for milli meter-wave and microwave ICs
• Solar cells based on GaAs power twin rovers
(Opportunity and Spirit rovers that are
exploring the surface of Mars
• GaAs diodes are used to detect X-rays
PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARDS
 Printed circuit boards (PCB)
• PCB - self-contained module of interconnected electronic
components found in devices (common beepers, or pagers,
and radios to sophisticated radar and computer systems)
• Circuits are formed by a thin layer of conducting material
Integrated Circuit (IC), is a collection of
deposited, or "printed" on the surface of an insulating board
electronic
(known as thecomponents,
substrate) which are combined in
• Individual electronic
one package components
(IC) are placed
and soldered ononthe
the PCB
surface of
the substrate and soldered to the interconnecting circuits
• Contact fingers along one or more edges of the substrate act
as connectors to other PCBs or to external electrical devices
such as on-off switches
• PCB - may have circuits that perform a single function, such
as a signal amplifier, or multiple functions
• In addition to electrical connections, PCB provides a
mechanical structure to hold the circuits and components
together
 Printed circuit boards
• PCB can be classified according to fabrication
processes and substrate materials
 Printed circuit boards
i) Single sided PCB - Have the components on one side of the substrate
ii) Double-sided PCB - When the number of components becomes too much
for a single-sided board, a double-sided board may be used.
Electrical connections between the circuits on each side are made by
drilling holes through the substrate in appropriate locations and
plating the inside of the holes with a conducting material
iii) Multi-layered PCB - has a substrate made up of layers of printed circuits
separated by layers of insulation.
• The components on the surface connect through plated holes
drilled down to the appropriate circuit layer.
• This greatly simplifies the circuit pattern
 Printed circuit boards - Terminology
Refers to a circuit board with no
1 Bare board
components mounted on it

Refers to the copper width of the PCB

2 Trace
wires

Interconnection of signal between

3 Via different layers of a PCB

Most basic units of PCB.

4 Pad
A pad is a contact point used to connect
components with a via and is the point to
which the components are soldered
Components on a printed circuit board are electrically
connected to the circuits by two different methods
i) Older "through hole technology" - each component has thin wires, or
leads, which are pushed through small holes in the substrate and
soldered to connection pads in the circuits on the opposite side.
Gravity and friction between the leads and the sides of the holes
keeps the components in place until they are soldered

ii) Newer ‘surface mount technology’ - stubby J-shaped or L-shaped legs

on each component contact the printed circuits directly
A solder paste consisting of glue, flux, and solder are applied at the
point of contact to hold the components in place
Although surface mount technology requires greater care in the
placement of the components, it eliminates the time-consuming
drilling process and the space-consuming connection pads inherent
with through hole technology

BOTH TECHNOLOGIES ARE USED TODAY

 Two types of circuit assemblies related to the PCB

An integrated circuit, performs A hybrid circuit, as the name

similar functions to a printed implies, looks like a printed
circuit board except the IC circuit board, but contains
contains many more circuits some components that are
and components that are grown onto the surface of the
electrochemically "grown" in substrate rather than being
place on the surface of a very placed on the surface and
small chip of silicon soldered
 Fabrication of Printed Circuit Boards
• There is no such thing as a standard printed circuit board
• Each board has a unique function for a particular
product and must be designed to perform that function
in the space allotted
• Board designers use computer-aided design systems
with special software to layout the circuit pattern on the
board.
• The spaces between electrical conducting paths are
often 0.04 inches (1.0 mm) or smaller
• The location of the holes for component leads or contact
points are also laid out, and this information is translated
into instructions for a computer numerical controlled
drilling machine or for the automatic solder paster used
in the manufacturing process
 Fabrication of Printed Circuit Boards
• Once the circuit pattern is laid out, a negative image,
or mask, is printed out at exact size on a clear plastic
sheet
• With a negative image, the areas that are not part of
the circuit pattern are shown in black and the circuit
pattern is shown as clear
• The substrate most commonly used in printed circuit
boards is a glass fibre reinforced (fiberglass) epoxy
resin with a copper foil bonded on to one or both
sides
• PCBs made from paper reinforced phenolic resin
with a bonded copper foil are less expensive and
are often used in household electrical devices
 Printed circuit boards
A PCB is prepared by following processes
• Laminate preparation
• Printing and
• Mechanical operations
 PCB- Laminate Preparation
• Laminate is defined as the product obtained by pressing a layer of
filler material impregnated with resin under heat and pressure
The basic ingredients of a copper clad laminates are
i) Filler – continuous sheets of materials which acts as reinforcing agents
Ex : Paper, Glass cloth, etc
ii) Resin – the fillers are embedded in a matrix of a resin when
laminated
Ex : phenol-formaldehyde, epoxy, polyester, etc
iii) Copper foil – forms the surface of a copper – clad laminates, is
manufactured by the process of electro deposition

Cladding – mixing two dissimilar material and passing through rotating

disc under pressure
 PCB - Laminate Preparation
• The filler rolls is dipped in the resin solution and it partially
absorbs it
• Amount of resins : Two precise squeeze rollers and then it is
passed through drying oven where the solvents are removed
• The treated layer is placed along with copper foil between two
flat steel plates and then charged into a multi opening hydraulic
press
• The sheets are pressed at T (120-170 oC) and
pressure (20-110 kgcm-2)
• The pressed laminate is cooled inside the press under pressure
and then removed
 PCB - Printing
• Printing can be done by two methods: photo printing and
screen printing
Photo printing
• The surface of the copper clad laminate is covered by a thin layer of photoresist
• The film master (negative) of the required conducting pattern is placed over the structure when
exposed to UV light
• The photoresist under the transparent region of the film master gets polymerized
• The film master is removed and then the laminate is treated with suitable solvent to remove the
unexposed pattern of the photoresist
• The polymerized region is cured and the unwanted copper which is not protected by the
photoresist is selectively removed by dipping it in an etchant such as chromic acid or alkaline NH3
• The polymerized photoresist on the conducting patter is scrapped out by a knife to get the PCB
 PCB - Printing
Screen printing
• The circuit pattern is transferred on to the screen leaving behind pattern area open,
while the other areas of the screen are closed
• A screen fabric with uniform meshes (net like) is stretched and fixed on to the
laminate
• The circuit pattern is photographically transferred on to the screen leaving the
meshes in the pattern area open, while the mesh in the rest of the area are closed
• Ink is forced by moving squeegee through the open meshes on the surface of the
material to be printed
• The ink is dried and the laminate is dipped into the etching solution where the
unwanted Cu is removed
 PCB - Printing
Post Printing process
• The copper plating on the printed circuit pattern is protected by
the tin-lead coating and is unaffected by the acid
• The tin-lead coating on the surface of the copper printed circuit
pattern is very porous and is easily oxidized. To protect it, the
panels are passed through a "reflow" oven or hot oil bath
which causes the tin-lead to melt, or reflow, into a shiny
surface
• The contact fingers are attached to the edge of the substrate to
connect with the printed circuit
• The contact fingers are masked off from the rest of the board
and then plated.
– Plating is done with three metals: first tin-lead, next nickel,
then gold
 PCB - Printing

Gold Fingers :
are the gold plated narrow connectors found on the edge of
printed circuit boards to enable connections between multiple
boards.
They are made from flesh gold, the hardest form of gold
available and work for a long time with superior conductivity.
The thickness of gold fingers usually ranges from
3 to 50 microns
Each panel is sealed with epoxy to protect the circuits from
being damaged while components are being attached
 PCB – Mechanical Operation
• The panels are then cut into individual boards and the edges are
smoothed
• Individual boards pass through several machines which place the
electronic components in their proper location in the circuit
• If surface mount technology is going to be used to mount the
components, the boards first pass through an automatic solder paster,
which places a dab (like a head) of solder paste at each component
contact point
• The components are then soldered to the circuits. With surface mount
technology, the soldering is done by passing the boards through
another reflow process, which causes the solder paste to melt and
make the connection
• The flux residue from the solder is cleaned with water or solvents
depending on the type of solder used
• Unless the PCB are going to be used immediately, they are individually
packaged in protective plastic bags for storage or shipping