If you are a fan of John Wooden, the celebrated UCLA coach, you will know that he had more than his share of clever sayings. My husband who played basketball all his life, and who went to college on a full-ride scholarship—nearly worships Coach Wooden. For this reason, I have heard many of these wise and witty Wooden-isms over the years. One that comes to mind is: “Be quick, but don’t hurry.” With the speed of advancing technologies, we all have to be quick, but we cannot afford to hurry—or be hasty—putting revenue and market share opportunities at stake.
In regards to RF and Microwave printed circuit boards, there seems to be some confusion about PCB finishes and their affect on the high performance requirements of these applications. Too often, when considering the available finishes and the potential impact they have on performance, many engineers become both quick and (unwittingly) hasty when they make finish choices based on information, which is conflicted, at best.
I think it’s time to clear up some of these issues, so I am going to spend the next few blog posts talking about these issues. Hopefully, by the time I’m through you will have a much clearer understanding of finishes and which to choose for your product, before you start! I will be drawing from our real-world experiences, as well as looking to experts in the substrate and RF design industries.
Today, I am just going to cover the major available finishes, and which ones seem to be preferred by those with high speed applications:
In high speed applications, the prevailing wisdom suggests ENIG, ENEPIG, Hard Gold, Soft Gold and Immersion Silver are the best choices. Gold is a natural choice due to the fact that it does not oxidize and that it is wire bondable. Immersion Silver is gaining some traction due to the excellent conductivity, but it oxidizes and it is not wire bondable which keeps many from choosing this option.
Unfortunately, I must leave us barely posed in the starting blocks, in regards to finishes! In two weeks, however, I will sound the starting shot, and we will be off to the races. I will discuss each finish in more detail with the pros and cons of each.
If you have specific questions you would like to submit about this subject, please post them here in the comment section or email me at: judy@translinetech.com.
I’m looking forward to tackling this complex and critical subject together!
Before I begin my blog-rant, let me wish you and yours a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving! While I hope you enjoy your holiday, and stuffing yourself with turkey, I wouldn’t want you to look like a turkey at work. So, I thought I would share a bit of insight offered to me recently. As I mentioned in an earlier post, my friend Michael Ingham of Spectrum Integrity and I recently spoke at PCB West, and co-authored a paper to discuss some of the challenges of RF/MW PCB Design and Fabrication. Michael helped me to understand one of the reasons why simulations don’t match the measured performance of a PCB after fabrication. It is a rather simple concept, but one often overlooked. Here is an excerpt from our paper:
Performance not matching simulations
Advanced designs with RF and ultra high-speed signals frequently undergo extensive simulation and analysis during the design phase. It is not uncommon for simulation data to not match measured data from a finished PCB. One item of disconnect often seen is that engineers set up their simulation models using a copper thickness based on which copper thickness is called out, such as ½ oz, 1 oz, etc. The factor that often gets overlooked is when plated-through-holes get plated, this plating also gets added to the PCB outer layers. Since plating is a wet process where the manufacturing panel is immersed in a chemical bath for plating, plated holes typically get 0.001 of copper, and the outer layers also get this copper added. So if simulations are based on a ½ oz copper thickness (which is approximately 0.067), the actual finished thickness can be 2X, or more, due to the hole plating process and this isn’t being accounted for in the simulation model. This can throw off simulation data and impact designed etched features such as transmission lines, filters, coupled lines, etc.
A simplified graphical illustration of plating effects can be seen in Figures 3 and 4 below. Figure 3 shows a section of a 4 layer PCB with a drilled hole prior to hole plating. Figure 4 then shows the resulting plated hole and this extra plating being added to the outer layers. (the plating metal is shown as gold just for illustrative purposes) .
With sequential lamination cycles, the effects can be more dramatic such as blind vias being exposed to multiple plating cycles. Figures 5 through 8 provide an example of plating effects due to multiple plating steps. The different colors of the metal shown below, gives a visual representation of the cumulative plating effects.
So, when creating your simulations, be sure to factor in the additional copper thickness that will be added to any critical layers due to hole plating. If you are not sure, consult with your fabricator who will be able to advise you of the impact plating will have on your specific product.
By taking this into consideration, you can look like the genius that you are…and not like something that belongs on your Thanksgiving table.
Judy Warner is currently the Director of Sales and Marketing for Transline Technology, Inc. in Anaheim, CA. Judy has been in the Printed Circuit Board industry for nearly two decades. Her career began with Details, Inc. (later to become DDi). She was a Top-Producing Sales Professional for 10 years for Electroetch Circuits (later to become Tyco, then TTM). She has also spent several years as an Independent Sales Representative including time as the owner of her own Rep firm, Outsource Solutions. This blog is part of Microwave Journal's guest blog series.
A few weeks back, I had the opportunity and pleasure to co-present a talk at PCB West in Santa Clara, CA. The topic we chose was: Navigating the Pitfalls of RF/MW and High Perfomance PCB Design and Fabrication. My co-presenter was Michael Ingham, of Spectrum Integrity, whose design firm is highly focused on challenging RF/MW and High Performance PCBs.
Since we only had an hour for our talk, we created a supplementary paper to elaborate on our talking points. One of the ideas that intrigued me was a point that Michael made about what creates losses in a PCB. We often talk about loss tangent as if it were The source of loss (with a capital “T”) and focus on this number on data sheets, more than all other factors present. Below is a portion of the paper we created, where Michael discusses the 4 main components of loss:
It is very important to look at the big picture when selecting materials for use with critical signals. There are four main components of loss: conductive, dielectric, radiation, and “design induced”. Taken collectively together, these determine the total loss for a given signal path.
Figure 1 below shows a general loss calculation accounting for both the dielectric and conductive loss. Note that the conductive loss is a significant contributor to overall loss.
Dielectric Loss – this is the component of loss contributed by the dielectric material. Choosing materials with low Dissipation Factors (or Loss Tangents) help to reduce this component. However, this is just
one component of overall loss. By also attending to the other loss factors, it may be highly likely a material with a higher loss tangent may be acceptable. In this way, one can expect increased yields, lower costs and broader available supplier base.
Conductive Loss – this is due to the resistance of the metal of signal traces. It is important to note that for RF and higher signal speeds, the surface finish is a significant factor due to skin effect properties. The graph below in Figure 2 shows a simulation of Insertion Loss for two types of metal finish for the same dielectric material. The smooth finish performs substantially better.
Radiation Loss – this is due to the type of transmission line used. As a general rule, microstrip types of traces on outer layers will have more radiation loss compared to coplanar types of lines. Lines routed on internal layers, such as stripline types, have substantially less radiation loss.
Design induced Loss – these are generally due to discontinuities in signal paths. Care must be taken during the design phase to keep this at a bare minimum. Common ongoing problems seen include not properly transitioning between different types of transmission line structures, having gaps in ground planes underneath signals, not optimizing connector footprints to PCB (field match and impedance match), and many more.
He made an excellent point, by later stating, that we don’t always have to pick the material with the lowest loss tangent to achieve the desired performance. By being mindful of these other areas of loss while designing a board, we may be able to choose an alternative material that is less costly, more readily available, and easier to fabricate with. Makes sense to me!
I thought this was a simple, yet very helpful point to those of you designing these unique and challenging boards. Let me know if this was helpful!
Judy Warner is currently the Director of Sales and Marketing for Transline Technology, Inc. in Anaheim, CA. Judy has been in the Printed Circuit Board industry for nearly two decades. Her career began with Details, Inc. (later to become DDi). She was a Top-Producing Sales Professional for 10 years for Electroetch Circuits (later to become Tyco, then TTM). She has also spent several years as an Independent Sales Representative including time as the owner of her own Rep firm, Outsource Solutions. This blog is part of Microwave Journal's guest blog series.
Once again, summer has evaporated at record speed. This morning, my two teen daughters trudged sleepily out the door for their first day back to high school; one a sophomore and one a senior. Wow...it seems like the first day of summer was just last week, and my kids were just starting kindergarten!
I suppose this sense of nostalgia is why I am now drawing a rather quirky connection between plating high performance multilayer circuit boards and Slip n’ Slides. I loved Slip ‘n Slides when I was a kid, didn’t you?! Injury almost immediately ensued just after you got the darn thing stretched out and flooded with water—but it was still a blast! It was equally fun watching my daughters slide, belly-down, along the long yellow plastic sheet when they were small. Afterwards, they stood up wide-eyed, dripping and giggling, and glued, head-to-toe, with tiny blades of grass. I also recall my utter humiliation when my kids and their friends looked on, with a mix of horror and pity, when I tried to throw-down some of my “old moves”, thinking I’d be the “cool” mom. (Sorry, girls!)
Memories aside, let me explain how I’ve come to connect Slip ‘n Slides and multilayer high performance boards. Plating is an aqueous (wet) process in which metallic particles are electro-deposited onto the surface of circuit boards. When plating high performance boards, which often employ Teflon laden materials, it gets a bit tricky. Because, well…it’s Teflon! It is very smooth and slick. (Think of Teflon coated cookware and eggs)
So, imagine that the Slip ‘n’ Slide plastic is Teflon substrate, and that your kid is a metal particle afloat in liquid. Now! Quickly and permanently bond the metal particulate (child) to the Teflon material (plastic), as it goes screaming by in a stream of moving water (aqueous bath). Yeah--well, welcome to our world! Plating on Teflon is not as easy as you might imagine. However, if we were plating on FR-4, or a ceramic-loaded substrate, it would be more like your kid attempting to Slip ‘n Slide on indoor-outdoor carpet. (Ouch!) The surface is rougher and more porous, even within an aqueous environment.
Don’t get me wrong, we love Teflon! It has many desirable properties, so we simply take steps to treat the material surface before plating to make it rougher and more receptive to metal deposits. There are effective and ineffective ways to accomplish this task, and only an expert understands the critical difference. So always choose those with expertise in fabricating these boards.
A second concern, in regard to plating high performance multilayer boards, has to do with ensuring a good solid ground connection. Some designers accomplish this by putting a front-to-back connective band of edge plating around the perimeter of the board. Others opt for dense hole patterns around the surface edges of the board. Not all board manufacturers are skilled at edge plating. It comes with a small host of potential problems. So, if you are opting for edge plating, you may want to ask for some edge plating samples and discuss the processes and concerns with a new potential supplier.
The third issue to be mindful of is the challenge of plating successfully when controlled depth, back-drilling, or selective plating are required. From this side of our manufacturing facility door, I often feel Dorothy-like in the presence of Almighty Oz in the face of these processes; I don’t fully understand what they do back there, but it all seems like magic to me! Many steps, and focused attention to multiple processes must be taken to be successful. Make sure any supplier you partner with is well versed in these technologies.
The final concern, as related to plating, applies to all boards—not just high performance PCBs. Features are forever shrinking, particularly holes that require plating. This can be problematic in that smaller holes are prone to trap air bubbles inside the hole barrels, which create voids where the plating is prevented being deposited on the hole walls. Four factors must be present and religiously controlled for even, consistent hole plating: filtering, agitation, aeration and circulation. Filtering prevents contaminants from affecting plating purity and integrity. Tanks and filters must be dutifully monitored. Agitation occurs when the panels are moved, mechanically, sided to side within the tank to help push out any trapped air bubbles and to ensure even plating inside the holes. Circulation and aeration pumps make sure the water moves briskly and continually circulates, also helping to push out tiny air bubbles and aid in even plating.
Here is the gist of what I hope you will take away from my ramblings this week. Plating is an uber critical process when manufacturing High Performance RF/MW Multilayer PCBs. So be sure you engage with skilled and seasoned experts who frequently and successfully produce these types of boards.
Otherwise, you may end up feeling like you’ve been helplessly tossed onto a Slip ‘n Slide….downhill…on asphalt. Yikes!!!
Judy Warner is currently the Director of Sales and Marketing for Transline Technology, Inc. in Anaheim, CA. Judy has been in the Printed Circuit Board industry for nearly two decades. Her career began with Details, Inc. (later to become DDi). She was a Top-Producing Sales Professional for 10 years for Electroetch Circuits (later to become Tyco, then TTM). She has also spent several years as an Independent Sales Representative including time as the owner of her own Rep firm, Outsource Solutions. This blog is part of Microwave Journal's guest blog series.
Bummer! Now, I’m going to have Queen camped in my head all day singing “Un-dah Presh-ah.” Well, let me see if I can drown him out with discussing the Wonderful World of PCB Lamination. Even I want to run screaming from my own brain after contemplating this topic for very long!
Many times as I have thought about the various challenges of manufacturing High performance boards, my mind is helplessly drawn to make a comparison to bread making. When you think about it—they are both born from chemically based processes and formulas, right? Okay, maybe I need to cut down on the Food channel, but stick with me anyway! For instance, there is grocery store bread that is mixed in towering vats, and baked in loaves by thousands, and then there is Artisan bread. Mmm…that warm, wonderful, crusty bread, that is made in small batches by passionate bread makers. You know the ones; they waft with the tangy fragrance of things like fresh rosemary or garlic. These breads often boast of secret recipes. Some areas of Italy have famous breads, whose bakers claim that it is the water, unique to that region that makes it special. Regardless, both types of bread have value and a place in our lives.
In my visually, and apparently culinary driven mind it goes like this:
With this in mind, let’s consider multilayer designs that include high performance materials—either on all layers or on selective layers. What is required for successful production of these boards? Once again, we need material gurus who are fluent in the knowledge of high performance materials and how they behave. In this case, specifically, how they respond to lamination; because, as I’ve said many times, they all act uniquely. Each high performance material comes with its own lamination profile, a recipe of sorts, which specifies the temperature rise rate, as well as the cooling rate. These are provided to us by the material manufacturers, however, this recipe must be “tweaked” for the Press being used, and the environment in which it is being produced. In other words—we are back to that intangible, though critical aspect of Art and Magic—like Artisan bread making!
A second concern, during lamination is the surface treatment of the layers. All boards must be cleaned thoroughly and put through a scrubber prior to lamination. This ensures that the surface is free of all contaminants and debris that would prevent strong, even adhesion or create de-lamination in the future. High performance boards require special TLC at this stage of fabrication. They cannot be treated like standard boards due to the material composition. A little known secret, at this stage of fab, makes all the difference—but if I told you what it was, I would have to kill you. (Sorry, it’s part of our secret recipe!)
When standard multilayer boards are made they are “booked” by stacking the layers together with pre-preg placed between each layer to act as a bonding medium (epoxy-resin loaded fiberglass sheets). When you have varying substrates on various layers, that formula goes out the window. Farewell, Wonder bread. Every high performing material has a corresponding bond ply that matches its properties in order to bond properly and also for performance reasons. This information is supplied by the material manufacturers as well. It is critical that a RF/MW/High performance board manufacturer be current and well-versed on bond plies. Hello Artisan bread.
The last item of interest, when it comes to lamination, is the impact of the environment on High Performance materials. All Substrates are somewhat impacted by humidity, this is especially true in some types of High Performance substrates. They are very vulnerable to humidity and the environment. Awareness of which materials are most vulnerable and how to treat them are crucial to success.
It all comes down to this: Only Master Bakers make Artisan Bread! Artisan bread makers are able bake Wonder bread, but beware of the baker who makes Wonder bread everyday and tells you he can make you a great loaf of Artisan bread!
Master Board makers successfully and consistently make RF/MW and High Performance boards because they have the knowledge, skill, experience and all the secret recipes that make for a top-notch High Performance product. Therefore look for the qualities of a “Master” when you evaluate potential suppliers. It will save you much time, frustration and headache if you do.
Judy Warner is currently the Director of Sales and Marketing for Transline Technology, Inc. in Anaheim, CA. Judy has been in the Printed Circuit Board industry for nearly two decades. Her career began with Details, Inc. (later to become DDi). She was a Top-Producing Sales Professional for 10 years for Electroetch Circuits (later to become Tyco, then TTM). She has also spent several years as an Independent Sales Representative including time as the owner of her own Rep firm, Outsource Solutions. This blog is part of Microwave Journal's guest blog series.
Play nice
Share
Don’t tell secrets
Don’t judge a book by its cover
Hard work can be really fun
It’s great to have smart friends
Social Media is not just for teenagers
Nice people rock
Mean people don’t
Many hands make quick work…and a great conference
The ones with the best questions often create innovations that change the world!
RF/MW Geeks are the new Rock Stars
Promote your peers and friends
Listening is more useful than talking (so I been told!)
Small companies are just as valuable as big ones
He who asks the best questions, often creates innovations that change the world
Rogers Corp. gives away very cool gifts! (Like the Sony Bloggie I won at their party!)
Baltimore has a gorgeous Inner Harbor and really good food
One can never overestimate the value of Motrin and caffeine
Don’t ever skimp on the carpet padding
Don’t mess with an Orioles fan
Hard Laughter is good for you
Microwave Journal throws a great party, and has nice friends
Twitter is so NOT stupid!
Share a cab…make some friends!
Beware of RF connector Reps after dark
Everyday is a party if you have a San-Tron Crab hat and a camera!
Its fun to give stuff away
LinkedIn keeps you linked in
Sleep is a very good thing!
Drinking too much the night before networking all day with really smart people… not so good!
Work is always better when you love what you do, and you enjoy the people you do it with. I am grateful that I enjoy both. IMS 2011 was a full and exhausting week…yet so much fun! I congratulate and acknowledge the small army of collaborators who made the MTTS IMS 2011 such a success. It was, indeed, a show to be remembered. I feel fortunate to have been a small part of such a grand event!
Looking forward to doing it again in Montreal in 2012!
Judy Warner is currently the Director of Sales and Marketing for Transline Technology, Inc. in Anaheim, CA. Judy has been in the Printed Circuit Board industry for nearly two decades. Her career began with Details, Inc. (later to become DDi). She was a Top-Producing Sales Professional for 10 years for Electroetch Circuits (later to become Tyco, then TTM). She has also spent several years as an Independent Sales Representative including time as the owner of her own Rep firm, Outsource Solutions. This blog is part of Microwave Journal's guest blog series.
Okay, here we go, blog number 3; but first allow me to do a quick review of what we’ve covered so far:
1.) Not everyone who says they can make RF/MW PCBs really can.
2.) High performance Substrates act NOTHING like FR-4 in the fabrication process, and a qualified supplier must be a Material Guru.
3.) Just as RF/MW engineering is a specialty—so is RF/MW PCB fabrication.
4.) Don’t be hasty in starting relationships with RF/MW PCB suppliers. Do your homework and ask important questions.
Now, moving along. Let’s talk about drilling holes. Automated drilling machines are incredible, when you think about it. The X-Y axis accuracy of hole placement, the throughput, and the speed of the spindles are all truly amazing! When drilling FR-4 material, the bits cut through material like a hot knife through butter. When you throw some Rogers PTFE, or Taconic in the mix, however, a dramatic shift occurs. The drill operators start throwing back Red Bulls, and all that mindless trust in the drill’s amazing technology vanishes.
Again, remember the ‘Material Guru’ analogy: for every substrate brand, composition, thickness and copper weight, there is a specific recipe—in this case a drill recipe. (Thankfully, these recipes are supplied by the substrate manufacturers.) The speed of the spindles must be adjusted to keep them from tearing up the softer materials and leaving behind chewed up hole walls. The drill bits must be changed frequently to ensure optimal sharpness. The feed speed must be altered as well, to ensure a clean entry and exit of the drill bits. If you don’t have cleanly drilled holes with smooth hole walls, you will be in deep water once the boards hit plating (no pun intended).
In addition to these adjustments, talented design engineers continually delight us with their ever-so-complex designs that require multiple drill operations (due to buried and blind vias). Sometimes, back drilling or controlled depth drilling is required. All of these factors serve to compound the, already complex, challenges. (Yes, there is laser drilling, but that comes with another set of unique challenges—which require a separate post!)
Needless to say, drilling is a critical step in the manufacturing of RF/MW boards. If you mess it up in drilling, expensive laminates end up on the scrap pile, along with any hope a supplier may have of making a profit. So, here is what I hope you will take away from this brief post: Drilling RF/MW PCBs is dramatically different than drilling standard FR-4 boards. It requires knowledge, skill and experience. It naturally costs more (due to drill bit usage and added labor) and is far more risky, from a profit standpoint, for the supplier. It can be risky for you too, but only if you have inadvertently partnered with an unqualified supplier.
For all these reasons, when you get an opportunity to visit an existing or prospective PCB supplier, keep these things in mind as you ask questions about their drill operations. If you see wide-eyed drill operators, a heap of drill bits and Red Bull cans…you are probably in the right place!
PS. If you are planning to exhibit at,or attend IMS 2011 in Baltimore, please come by and say “hello”. We will be exhibiting at booth #4511. We will also be attending the Crab Feast and the Women in engineering reception. Hope to see you there! Judy
Judy Warner is currently the Director of Sales and Marketing for Transline Technology, Inc. in Anaheim, CA. Judy has been in the Printed Circuit Board industry for nearly two decades. Her career began with Details, Inc. (later to become DDi). She was a Top-Producing Sales Professional for 10 years for Electroetch Circuits (later to become Tyco, then TTM). She has also spent several years as an Independent Sales Representative including time as the owner of her own Rep firm, Outsource Solutions. This blog is part of Microwave Journal's guest blog series.
When discussing RF/MW PCBs, starting with base materials seems like a logical place to start. However, the topic of Advanced Circuit Materials is...well...complicated, especially for a single blog post. I’m sure this is obvious to you, but it took me the better part of this week to come to this conclusion with the help of Dale Doyle of Rogers Corp. and Denis Boulanger of Ventec. (Thank you both for your help, and graciousness!) In the end, I have resolved to leave the “heavy lifting” to the experts. Rogers, Taconic, Arlon, and Isola all have information-rich websites and employ amazing professionals like Dale and Denis who are invaluable resources. The “Rog Blog”, here on the Microwave Journal website, is an outstanding resource as well.
Nevertheless, I did discover that I have a thing or two to contribute when it comes to this subject, as it is related to Printed Circuit Boards.
There are a wide variety of high performing substrates on the market ideally suited for RF/MW applications. At Transline, we use all of them--because you specify them on your blueprints. In fact, we stock almost every part number of Rogers material, and many of Taconic and Arlon and a few Isola. We do this to shorten lead times and because approximately 60% of our business is in the RF/MW industries. Due to our fluency with these materials, I feel qualified to give you a snap shot of what happens after your order hits our shop floor. First off, RF/MW materials act NOTHING like FR-4 materials in our manufacturing process! They don’t even behave like each other or one part number to another, or one material supplier to another. That is because they are all made differently and have unique compositions; Teflon, Ceramic, Duroid, PBD, hybrid mixes, and so on. Furthermore, some are reinforced, some aren’t. Some are reinforced with crushed fiberglass, some with woven fiberglass. The highest performing materials, with no reinforcement, can have dimensional stability issues so severe that they make your board fabricator want to start parking cars for a living.
A capable, qualified RF/MW PCB manufacturer must be a virtual Guru when it comes to materials. They must be experts at knowing how each substrate brand, each composition, each part number, at each copper weight and thickness responds to....(taking a big breath)...etchant, plating chemicals, heat, lamination, moisture, and a whole host of processes met in fabrication. These laminates can be moody and fragile....nothing like good old predictable, robust FR-4. So, just as a good RF/MW engineer brings some art and magic to the science of their design process, so it is with the board manufacturer. Why is this important to know? Because many an excellent PCB fabricator has made the innocent, though faulty, assumption that because they can make extremely complex boards with FR-4, that this RF stuff will be a cake walk. They may have even enjoyed success with some RF boards made on a specific material, but unable to succeed on another. (Shortly thereafter, is when you get that embarrassed phone call informing you that they can’t make your boards, after all)
What I am proposing here is that RF/MW PCB manufacturing is a specialty, just as RF/MW engineering is a specialty within the general discipline of electrical engineering. However, far too many PCB suppliers and engineers appear to lack this awareness. Why do I believe this? I believe this because I work with RF engineers daily who have the scars to prove it! I believe this because after having 16 years of experience working with very complex FR-4 boards, and a one year working with RF/MW boards--I still feel like a rookie when it comes to RF boards. I also hear evidence from materials suppliers and buyers. I hear it from engineers on Linked In. It is for these reasons that I was compelled to create this blog.
So, here are a few possible solutions I hope may be helpful:
When you evaluate a new RF/MW board supplier, consider asking what percentage of their business is RF/MW, and how long they have been doing RF/MW PCBs? Which materials are they accustomed to working with? Ask questions about their quality and test records that verify their ability to successfully hold the tough impedance tolerances you may expect. Ask for RF/MW customer references. Ask your substrate rep for recommendations--in some ways; I think they have the best seat in the house, often offering some much needed objectivity.
My advice is this: Don’t rush, headlong, into a relationship with a new supplier because he can save you 10%, because by doing so he may, unwittingly, cost you far more--like the loss of an important customer. Think more along the line of long courtship and marriage, rather than one-night-stand and Vegas. (a tall order when we are all so price driven!) Finally, look and listen for signs of true expertise. Look for that rare mix of knowledge, skill and experience mingled together with a twist of art and magic.
Blogs are designed for dialog, so please offer your feedback and comments. If you have more ideas or input on this topic, please share it. We have much to learn from one another and I look forward to hearing from you! Best wishes, Judy
Judy Warner is currently the Director of Sales and Marketing for Transline Technology, Inc. in Anaheim, CA. Judy has been in the Printed Circuit Board industry for nearly two decades. Her career began with Details, Inc. (later to become DDi). She was a Top-Producing Sales Professional for 10 years for Electroetch Circuits (later to become Tyco, then TTM). She has also spent several years as an Independent Sales Representative including time as the owner of her own Rep firm, Outsource Solutions. This blog is part of Microwave Journal's guest blog series.
A few weeks back, I was having a chat with a national PCB broker who has a unique and broad perspective of the Printed Circuit Board and Electronics industry. We were waxing nostalgic about the “old days” and philosophizing about the days to come. When she asked about our company, Transline Technology, I told her that we manufacture a wide variety of boards, but that our strength and focus lay in RF and Microwave products, which account for about 60% of our business. I was bragging about our work and our customer base when she abruptly interrupted: “You know, Judy, not all board suppliers who say they can make RF boards, really can.” I was caught off guard and asked her to elaborate. She recounted several horror stories whereby she had placed RF/MW PCB orders for her customers and the suppliers failed, in one form or another, leaving her embarrassed and in search of a more qualified supplier. This puzzled me. Although I have been in this industry for over 17 years, only this past year has involved RF/MW PCBs. Transline is a relatively small shop, and we are very successful with RF, so I assumed most others were as well. I wondered why, in some cases, much larger, far more well-recognized suppliers were failing? I tucked this question away for later consideration.
A week or so later, I was talking to the owner of a RF/MW design firm, a new prospect, who tends to take on very complex RF boards. It was like Déjà vu. I was bragging…then interrupted…and the tales of woe poured out like an overdue confession on Sunday morning. This time I dug deeper. By the end of the conversation I had a new friend and customer.
Same week…different RF Engineer…same story. Déjà vu, squared.
By the end, of these exchanges I was left with this conclusion: Not all PCB suppliers who say they can build RF/MW PCBs can!
So what makes RF/MW boards uniquely challenging to build? Why do some, otherwise excellent board suppliers, have trouble with RF/MW PCBs? I sat down with the owners of Transline, Larry Padmani and Chris Savalia, and asked them to share with me what some of the inherent challenges are in manufacturing RF/MW PCBs. They looked at me with cocked heads and compassionate smiles, as if a wee toddler just stumbled into their offices and asked them where babies come from. Clearly, these were loaded questions. Their patient answers came and I soon experienced the proverbial sensation of “drinking from a fire hose”. It soon became clear that the answers were many and complex. I soon understood that there existed a chasm between most RF/MW engineers and their board suppliers that sorely need to be filled. It was then, I decided, I wanted to somehow help fill this gap…for a couple of reasons. Altruistically, I wanted to spare RF/MW engineers from needless suffering, before they found a well qualified PCB supplier. More selfishly, I knew if I could adequately inform the RF/MW community, they could more easily discern between a qualified and non-qualified supplier—and I knew it would become clear which camp we fall into. So, I decided I would write an article for one of the trade magazines. (I may not be able to do complex RF calculations…but I can write!) I began by putting out questions to the RF/Microwave professionals via Linked In, asking what they would specifically like to know about RF/MW PCB manufacturing. There came a small flood of questions that continue to flow. I felt suddenly naïve and ill-equipped for the job!
Then two small miracles happened. I met a colleague who spent most of his career working for Rogers and Taconic, on a nationwide scale. He offered his help in educating me on material properties and helping me to understand both the engineering issues and the manufacturing challenges. His help, along with patient tutelage of owners of Transline, promise to bring me up to speed. The second miracle was meeting Pat Hindle from Microwave Journal, who was commenting amidst the mix of my brewing discussions on Linked in. He pointed me to helpful resources and, he astutely observed, that this topic may be too broad for one article. He then suggested the Guest Blog on the Microwave Journal website. (Bite sized pieces…brilliant!)
So in the weeks ahead I will take on the challenge of addressing the broad range of questions and issues surrounding RF/MW PCBs one-by-one. I know I will learn much, and hope to teach a little and help bridge the gap between RF/MW engineers and board manufacturers. Keep the questions coming both here, on the Microwave Journal Guest Blog, and on the LinkedIn RF and Microwave Community. I will do my best to address each one!
