Are generally made up of components such as resistors
and
capacitors.
Passive components are generally made by specialized contractors.
The process of photolithography generally makes integrated circuits.
Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) are usually manufactured by
specialized contractors.
Components can be hand soldered but usually are placed by the
Surface-Mount Technology (SMT). Typically this process is done
in 3 steps:
- Solder past printing or screen
printing
- SMT placement using "pick and
place" machine
- Reflow oven
There are three methods for mounting through components and
connectors:
- hand solder
- wave solder
- selective soldering
For improved throughput, PCB and SMT boards are panelized
into one panel. Each panel goes through a de-panel process
where the boards are separated. This generally is done after
the boards are populated and run through the solder process.
A completed PCA needs to be cleaned, depending on what type
of solder and flux was used.
A clean, wet board needs to be dried before inspection or
case up can be performed.
The case-up consists of one or more of the following
process:
- conformal coating
- potting
- final case-up of the
de-paneled PCB in a housing using various methods
