Monday, December 1, 2014

Best Value PCBs for Controlling Heat

Expert Printed Circuit Board Thermal Management and Metal Cladding

Electronic Interconnect – The PCB Experts

Electronic Interconnect is a reliable manufacturer of high quality PCBs – up to Class 3. We specialize in and focus on the design and manufacture of PC boards.
With nearly 30 years of experience, our customers have benefited from our unique technical advancements and distinct advantages, such as thermal management, use of metal cladding, heavy copper and outstanding solder-ability.

Effective Use of Thermal Management

Today, many PCB materials, constructions, and configurations for electronic assemblies require special thermal management to ensure continued operation without excessive heat issues, such as
- Hot spots
- CTE mismatch
- Solder joint stress
- Thermal fatigue failure
- Shock and vibration issues
While thermal management is important for any electronic assembly that is smaller, faster and stronger, it has become a critical part of PCB design for:
- High-power devices
- RF and wireless applications
- LED lighting boards
- DC/DC converters
- Electric motor controls

Thermal Management Expertise

As PCB specialists, we have become experts in the use of metals and Thermal Management. As a result, our PCBs exhibit faster heat dissipation, longer life and reduced energy needs. Our heat management capabilities include UL-certified metal-clad PCBs with various thicknesses of dielectrics and metal bases, such as aluminum and copper.

Materials Expertise

The combination of our knowledge and dedication to thermal management in PCBs, our expert processes and the use of many thermal laminates, allow us to optimize the performance and reliability of metal clad PCBs and provide the best solution to our customers. We manufacture boards with optional metal bases, provide metal cladding and use heavy copper weights.
Electronic Interconnect offers design counseling services to support the Thermal Management program.

Electronic Interconnect specializes in Thermal Management PCBs with broad capabilities in design and manufacturing.

Metal Clad PCB (MCPCB) Capabilities

The use of heavy metal and metal cladding is critical to effective thermal management of PCBs. Electronic Interconnect has very deep experience and broad capabilities in this area of specialization.
- Heavy copper capabilities up to 10 oz.
- UL approved MCPCBs up to 6 oz.
- Metal thickness from 30 mil to 125 mil
- Solder masks with high reflectance
- RoHS compliant
- Multi-layer and hybrid FR4 construction
- Many construction options

Flexi-Thermal PCBs

Often called Conformable MCPCBs.
- Metal Core PCBs (MCPCBs) from 0.004”
- Breakdown voltage AC from 2.5Kv to 10Kv
- External/internal radius up to 60°
- Extremely low thermal impedance
- Halogen-free, RoHS compliant

Direct Thermal Exchange (DTE)

With DTE technology, the thermal conduction path operates efficiently as a heat sink.
- Direct thermal conduction path
- Heat dissipates through Z axis
- No thermal transfer through the dielectric
- Resistant to UV and thermal discoloration
- Low thermal impedance
- 135W to 300W/mK conduction achieved
- Fast heat transfer rate through DTE pad
- Utilizes any base metal thickness
- Utilizes standard dielectric for the circuit area
- Utilizes FR4 epoxy, polyimide or any typical dielectric
- Other base metals available
- High power capacity
- No thermal via required

PowerLink PCBs (PLPCBs) with Heavy Copper 

There are multiple benefits of PLPCBs, ranging from smaller PCB size to extended life. They utilize a minimum of two copper weights on the same layer for the buss bar application.
- UL approved up to 6 oz.; capabilities to 20 oz.
- Use of multiple copper weights on same FR4 plane
- Prevents circuit failure
- Reduces number of connectors required
- Increases mechanical strength
- Higher current carrying capacity
- Use of high temperature dielectric material

Fabrication for Thermal Management

Precise machining tolerances and high-quality fabrication services at Electronic Interconnect enhance thermal management and long-term board reliability. A variety of laminates are available, based on the T-lam thermal lamination system, which includes:
1. Single side with a thermally conductive dielectric.
2. Double-sided with a thermally conductive dielectric on two sides of metal base.
3. Hybrid IMPCBs with FR-4 and a thermally conductive dielectric
4. Multi-layer construction with FR-4 and thermally conductive dielectrics on the metal base.

Electronic Interconnect uses advanced thermal management technologies to create PCBs for a wide variety of applications, such as LED lighting and power inverters.
The materials used feature strong thermal performance with high dielectric strength and low capacitance. They can eliminate the need for fans, heat sinks, and heat spreaders.

Download the PDF Brochure on Printed Circuit Board Thermal Management


Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Meet Electronic Interconnect at the Design-2-Part Show in Portland, OR

We hope you will be able to join Electronic Interconnect today and tomorrow at the Portland Expo Center - Booth #244!

From design ideas, to custom/stock parts, through final assembly, you will find the instant answers you need at this show. This is the largest design and contract manufacturing show in the Northwest.


For over 39 years, engineers and product manufacturers have relied on Design-2-Part Shows to find the best custom components, parts and contract manufacturing services. Each show features hundreds of job shops and American contract manufacturing suppliers exhibiting their skills in design, prototypes, production runs, value added services, assemblies, electronics, and much more.

Electronic Interconnect has been a leading PCB manufacturer for over 20 years. You can find us at the show under the following service categories: Fabricating - Printed Circuit Boards • CAD Design Services • Assemblies - Printed Circuit Boards • Circuits - Flexible • Printed Circuit Boards - Aluminum Clad


Monday, October 20, 2014

Stencils for PCB Prototypes

Electronic Interconnect is now offering Prototype Stencils which we can ship along with our quality fabricated printed circuit boards!

To find out more about this low-cost and highly affordable solution for prototyping your next great PCB project, please visit our website for more details on Proto Print Stencils.

Friday, October 3, 2014

TrikStik III - a stand-alone single-board computer

The TrikStik II is a stand-alone single-board computer with integrated real-time operating system and interactive macro control language.

The TrikStik III is a full-featured DAQ computer mounted on a handy modular plug-in PCB.
It consists of a high speed micro-controller capable of executing up to 8 MOPS (million operations per second) with a USB interface and an IDC 26-pin connector.


The TrikStik III has on-board FLASH memory, EEPROM, RAM, 8 MHz oscillator, high speed UART, two high speed serial communications channels, 23 programmable input/output ports, counter/timers, PWM output channels, six channels of 10-bit analog to digital converters, an analog comparator, internal and external interrupts and everything necessary to implement a wide variety of high performance control and monitoring circuits.

In addition to the native capabilities of the micro-controller, a real-time operating system with stored program, on board command interpreter, with multitasking capabilities and macro commands is included at no cost.

Read more at http://www.eiconnect.com/product_detail.aspx?b=9

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Electronic Interconnect to Attend the SMTA Capital Expo

Meet Electronic Interconnect (EI) at the SMTA Capital Expo on September 9th, 2014!

SMTA Local Expos and Tech Forums have become one of the great benefits of local chapters. Attendees get valuable technical info, meet leading suppliers, and get a FREE lunch. Exhibitors get a great opportunity to connect with people in their region who want to know about their products and services.


Why visit Electronic Interconnect at the expo?

Understand Electronic Interconnect and convey your suggestions and concerns.
See how Electronic Interconnect has expanded its online capabilities.
See EI's LED & Metal PCB capabilities. Have a glimpse of Flexible LED PCB technology.
See Superconductive PCB from Electronic Interconnect.
Available PCB discounts and promotions.

Sign up online: REGISTRATION for the expo.

 When: Tuesday, Sep 9, 2014
 Where: 11100 Johns Hopkins Rd, Laurel, MD 20723
 Exhibit Hours: 10:00am - 3:00pm

About Electronic Interconnect

Electronic Interconnect is a USA based PCB manufacturer and 1-stop shop for PCB prototype and design, taking your schematic to printed circuit boards.Our products are manufactured in the U.S.A. under ISO 9001:2008 standards. Since 1985, serviced design engineers and contract assemblers through out the U.S, Mexico, Canada, South America and Asia. Our mission is to manufacturing high quality printed circuit boards with fast turnaround and a goal of reaching 100% customer satisfaction.

Electronic Interconnect is looking forward to see more customers at the SMTA Capital expo!

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Funding for development of electronics and biometric sensor platforms for human performance monitoring (HPM)

The Nano-Bio Manufacturing Consortium (NBMC), an industry-academia partnership with the United States Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), has awarded funding for a project proposed by Binghamton University to develop electronics and biometric sensor platforms for human performance monitoring (HPM).


The electronics platform includes a flexible substrate, battery, processor, WiFi communications and interface electronics. The biometric sensor platform includes temperature and electrocardiogram (ECG) sensors, allowing calculation of the wearer's heart rate. ECG signals from human subjects and from an archive of human ECG recordings (from both healthy individuals and those with clinical conditions) will be utilized to test the sensor electrodes and onboard electronics. The processed data will be used to calculate heart rate, and data transmitted to a local network will be compared to the input signals. These tests will then be repeated on 10 units produced in the manufacturing run, all of which will be used to transmit ECGs, heart rate and temperature from human subjects. A second LED-based oximeter sensor will also be evaluated for the detection of blood oxygen levels and heart rate.

Read more at: http://www.printedelectronicsworld.com/articles/funding-for-development-of-electronics-and-biometric-sensor-platforms-00006779.asp

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Printed Circuit Boards - PCB Design Tools

Budget friendly as well as high-capability PCB design tools are most times a difficult combination to find. But great CAD products are definitely available from these select & quality vendors:
- CadSoft (Eagle)
- Altium (Designer)
- National Instruments (Circuit Design Suite).



In case you are also looking for a PCB Design company, Electronic Interconnect offers full printed circuit board design, layout & artwork, scanning services alongside our high-quality PCB Fabrication. Check our website for more details on PCB Design.



Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Flex OLED Displays Market Analysis

The new market research report "OLED Display Forecasts 2014-2024: The Rise of Plastic and Flexible Displays" includes detailed 10-year forecast by market segments, but also by display type (AMOLED, PMOLED, etc.). Uniquely, this report distinguishes between rigid plastic displays and flexible displays. The former are already commercialized in handsets such as the Samsung Galaxy Round or the LG G Flex (Note: the G Flex is a little bit flexible but mostly rigid in normal use). The OLED displays in these devices are not manufactured on glass but on a polyimide substrate, a plastic known for its resistance to high temperatures.
We can expect the first flagship phone with a flexible display to ship in 2017. Based on this scenario, the market for plastic and flexible AMOLED displays will grow to $16 billion within the next six years.

The rise of plastic and flexible displays will be accompanied by a shift from glass substrates to plastic substrates such as polyimide. However, glass-based displays will remain an important technology, especially in TV applications where scale-up and cost reduction are still big challenges. Flat and curved OLED TVs were recently launched by Samsung and LG. While the market for OLED TV panels will be relatively small in 2014, it will experience strong growth in the next ten years, with a projected 42% CAGR.

OLED displays: CAGR by market segment 2014-2024



Based on a deep understanding of the technology roadmap and the existing bottlenecks, IDTechEx has forecasted the OLED display market in eight segments:
Mobile phone displays
Tablet and notebook displays
TV panels
Automotive and aerospace
Wearable electronics
Industrial and professional displays
Microdisplays
Other applications

More info: http://www.idtechex.com/research/reports/oled-display-forecast-2014-2024-the-rise-of-plastic-and-flexible-displays-000402.asp



Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Electrical Testing Options for Bare Printed Circuit Boards

There are 2 types of PCB bare board testing options available at most PCB manufacturing shops: Flying-Probe Testing & Fixture Testing. There are advantages in each type depending on board quantity, lead-time, and accuracy.



Flying Probe testing is usually used for low quantity printed circuit boards and always uses the Netlist extracted from the supplied Gerbers. Fixture Testing on the other hand has 2 options. 1st is the Golden-board testing which extracts the Netlist from an existing PCB. 2nd is Netlist based testing which uses the Netlist from the Gerbers.

If youd like a specific type of electrical testing done on your PCBs, please contact your PCB supplier for more information and pricing options.

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Industrial and Medical Electronics Trends

Innovation and cost savings are now the key growth drivers for industrial companies worldwide.  Introducing more and more electronics and intelligence into their products is mandatory to survive.
As a result, the global industrial and medical electronics production will start a new growth cycle, which is forecast to reach 6.5% in average over the period 2012-2017.

Demand today is outweighed by major energy concerns. This modifies the expected technological road-map and the renewal demand routines. A growing part of the market will turn towards smart energy saving systems.

Industrial and medical electronics can be divided into the following 5 segments.

1. Transportation: electronics equipment for railways, marine and off-road vehicles applications, (excluding automotive electronics, aerospace, and defense systems).

2. Power electronics: includes UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply), labs and industrial power supplies, solar inverters, and power distribution networks as a first segment, solar panels and electronic lighting as two other ones.

3. Automation: control equipment for factory and utility automation on one hand, and building and home automation for the second one.

4. Medical electronics: imaging systems, implants, other diagnosis and therapy equipment.

5. Instrumentation, measuring and test equipment: Automatic Test Equipment (ATE), general instrumentation, telecommunications instrumentation, metering.

Industrial electronic equipment production breakdown by segments in 2017:





Read the full article at http://www.ttiinc.com/object/me-coulon-20140626.html

Source: DECISION (Extract from the World Electronic Industries 2012 – 2017 Forecast report)

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Slow Growth for the North American PCB Industry

IPC - Association Connecting Electronics Industries announced the April findings from its monthly North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program.

Sales and Orders Slow but Improving

Total North American PCB shipments increased 1.6 percent in April 2014 from April 2013, which moved year-to-date shipment growth to -0.2 percent. Compared to the previous month, PCB shipments declined 12.0 percent.

PCB bookings strengthened but continued negative at -1.5 percent year over year. Year-to-date order growth, while still negative, improved to -5.6 percent. Order growth fell 8.1 percent from the previous month.

The North American PCB book-to-bill ratio held steady in April at 1.01.


Read the article at http://www.ipc.org/ContentPage.aspx?Pageid=IPC-Releases-PCB-Industry-Results-for-April-2014

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

From PCB Design to PCB Fabrication

Too often the information en-route from PCB Design to PCB Fabrication is not conveyed properly, resulting in poor boards, higher costs, design re-spins, and ultimately slower product time-to-market. However, these problems can be avoided through careful planning, thorough communication, and proper documentation from the design-end.

A simple view of a typical product cycle from PCB Design to PCB Fabrication is shown below.


At Electronic Interconnect, at the Prototype Fabrication stage, we have seen a plethora of issues which could have been avoided if the Design Engineer had only provided the correct documentation and data for manufacturing the PCB. Some of the main issues are highlighted in the red box above. Overall, going back to the Design Engineer for documents, such as a dimensional drawing of the PCB, result in loss of time and money for all parties involved. Major issues which cause slowdown at the Prototype stage occur after a design-for-manufacturing check finds errors which will impede moving forward due to technology constraints; this is to say when no such constraints were intentionally added by the Design Engineer. For example, small annular rings around Vias, exceptionally thin trace widths and spacings, or antennas and electrical shorts, missing layers, missing drawings and notes; these issues will halt all operations in the engineering department before going to the plant floor. This will, in-turn, mean that the Design Engineer will have to go through each of these issues and either provide waivers to continue as-is, or a new set of fixed data.

In conclusion, valuable time can be saved with a concentrated effort at the design stage to provide proper documentation and cleaner data for efficient PCB fabrication!

For any questions, including DRC/DFM reviews, visit www.eiconnect.com

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Electronic Interconnect - Engineering Student Program

At Electronic Interconnect we value our engineering students, because they are the future for engineering advances.

Our Engineering Student Program Features:



1. Projects sponsorship
2. PCB Standard Spec for ONLY $25.00 Each
3. PCB standard Spec for ONLY $2.50 Per Square Inch
4. PCB Layout Software
5. PCB File Check [Free DRC]
6. Multilayer Zoom PCB orders

Find additional information at http://www.eiconnect.com/students_program.aspx

Contact Electronic Interconnect for sponsorship details!

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

LED Design On Metal-Core Printed Circuit Boards

We have all seen a recent boom in the lighting industry; LEDs are indeed illuminating the future. As you consider converting existing engineering designs, metal-core PCBs have the answer to manage the LEDs intense heat-output problems.



Contact us at design@eiconnect.com if you are interested in up-converting your single-sided FR-4 designs to Metal-Core based boards, or if you would like to start from scratch using this material.

Visit our website at www.eiconnect.com for PCB Fabrication and Ordering information.


Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Electroninc Interconnect Offers Customer Referal Reward Program

Electroninc Interconnect Customer Referal Reward

For Every New PCB Customer you Refer to Electronic Interconnect we will send you a $25 visa gift card.
Most of our new customers come to us via referral from our many satisfied customers.

We take that as a very high compliment, and we have made it a practice to show our appreciation by sending $25 visa gift card to those making the referrals.

Refer a new customer to us and after they have placed their first zoom order of amount more then $250.00, we will send you a $25 visa gift card.

See more PCB promotions and coupons.

Friday, March 21, 2014

PCB Product Selection Guide

The PCB product selection guide helps you in choosing the best solution for your printed circuit board needs. Electronic Interconnect offers thermal solutions in metal PCB as well as non-metal PCB.

PCB Product selection guide

Friday, March 7, 2014

Heavy copper or PLPCB - PowerLink Printed Circuit Boards

What is PLPCB technology


PLPCB (PowerLink Printed Circuit Boards) technology allows multiple copper weights on the PCB for the Buss Bar Application.

“PowerLink” is defined as the use of 2 or more copper weights on the same external layer of a printed wiring board.

• Use of multiple Copper weights
• In size reduction
• Protects circuit failure
• Reduce number of connectors
• Increased mechanical strength
• Higher current carrying capacity
• Use of high temperature dielectric

Production capabilities

Layer count: 1 - 25
Overall board thickness: 5 - 250 mil
Smallest drilled holes size: 6 mil

Copper weights
• Outer-layers: up to 50 doz/ft2  (3.12 lbs./ft2)
• Inner-layers: up to 8 oz/ft2, with standard processes & up to 90 oz w/special processing.

Dielectric Materials
• FR4, Polyimide, BT-epoxy, Cyanate, Ester, High Frequency laminates – other

LPI Solder-mask
• Green, Red, Black in semi-gloss.

Silkscreen Ink
• LPI White ink (5 mil or larger features)
• Available in : white, black or yellow (8 mil or greater)

Final Finishes
• Lead Free HASL Solder, HASL PbSn Solder, ENIG, OSP

Electrical testing
• Net listed (with fixture), flying probe(fixtureless)
• Insulation Resistance and HI-POT testing

Production Lot traceability on all parts


Unique manufacturing capabilities at Electronic interconnect:

• Multi-copper weights capabilities.
• Heavy / Extreme copper tracks and vias.
• Edge Plating & Plated Castellations

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Printed Circuit Boards - IPC Netlist Comparison

Most PCB design software have the ability to export out not only Gerber data for fabrication, but also Netlist information. This Netlist is exported out in the popular IPC-365-A format.


Through our years of experience, we highly recommend asking your board-shop if they have the ability to compare your Gerber data with an IPC Netlist. This comparison ensures that the Gerber data matches the Netlist in your CAD software, avoiding any surprises that may have been caused through export issues or import issues from the fabrication shops CAM software. In the end, this provides an excellent reliability check so that corrections can be made and precious time is not wasted in extra design revisions.

Electronic Interconnect offers full IPC-365-A Netlist comparison support. For more information on PCB design visit our website.

Related article: IPC-1601, Standard on Handling, Packaging and Storage