Quick turn PCB boards are printed circuits, printed components or a combination of conductive patterns made of conductive materials on an insulating substrate, using conductive materials according to a predetermined design, called printed circuits. Finished boards that have completed printed circuit or printed circuit processing. Almost every kind of electronic equipment, ranging from electronic watches and calculators to computers, communication electronic equipment, and military weapon systems, as long as there are electronic components such as integrated circuits, quick turn PCB boards must be used for the electrical interconnection between them.

During the research process of a larger electronic product, the most basic success factors are the design, documentation and fabrication of the product's quick turn PCB boards. The design and manufacturing quality of quick turn PCB boards directly affects the quality and cost of the entire product, and even the success or failure of commercial competition.

History of Quick Turn PCB Boards

Since the birth of PCB, it has been developed for more than 70 years. In the development process of more than 70 years, some important changes have taken place in quick turn PCB boards, which has promoted the rapid development of quick turn PCB boards and made them quickly applied to various fields. Throughout the development history of quick turn PCB boards, it can be divided into 6 periods.

(1) The birth period of quick turn PCB boards

Quick turn PCB boards were born from 1936 to the late 1940s. In 1903, Albert Hanson first used the concept of "line" and applied it to the telephone switching system. The design idea of this concept is to cut thin metal foil into line conductors, then glue them on paraffin paper, and finally paste a layer of paraffin paper on it, thus forming the structural prototype of today's quick turn PCB boards. In 1936, Dr. Paul Eisner actually invented the production technology of quick turn PCB boards, and this time is usually regarded as the real birth time of quick turn PCB boards. During this historical period, the manufacturing processes used for quick turn PCB boards are smearing, spraying, vacuum deposition, evaporation, chemical deposition, and coating. At the time, the typical application for quick turn PCB boards was in radio receivers.

(2) Trial production period of quick turn PCB boards

The time period of the trial production period of Quick turn PCB boards is the 1950s. With the development of quick turn PCB boards, since 1953, the communication equipment manufacturing industry began to pay more attention to quick turn PCB boards, and began to use quick turn PCB boards in large quantities. In this historical period, the manufacturing process used by quick turn PCB boards is a subtractive method. The specific method is to use a copper-clad thin paper-based phenolic resin laminate (PP material), and then use chemicals to dissolve the unnecessary copper foil, so that the remaining copper foil forms the circuit. At this time, the chemical composition of the etching solution used by quick turn PCB boards is ferric chloride, and the representative product is a portable transistor radio manufactured by Sony Corporation, which is a single-layer quick turn PCB boards using PP base material.

(3) The practical period of quick turn PCB boards

The useful period of Quick turn PCB boards is the 1960s. Since 1960, Japanese companies began to use GE substrate (copper-clad glass cloth epoxy resin laminate) materials in large quantities. In 1964, the American Optical Circuit Company developed a thick copper electroless copper plating solution (CC-4 solution), thus starting a new additive manufacturing process. Hitachi introduced the CC-4 technology to solve the problems of domestic GE substrates such as heating warpage and copper peeling in the early stage. With initial improvements in materials technology, the quality of GE substrates continues to improve. Since 1965, some quick turn PCB boards manufacturers began to appear in Japan to mass-produce GE substrates, GE substrates for industrial electronic equipment, and PP substrates for civilian electronic equipment.

(4) The rapid development period of quick turn PCB boards

The period of rapid development of Quick turn PCB boards was the 1970s. During this historical period, companies specializing in the manufacture of quick turn PCB boards began to appear in large numbers, and at the same time began to use technology to realize the interlayer interconnection of quick turn PCB boards. Since 1970, switches in the communication industry began to use 3-layer quick turn PCB boards, and later large-scale computers also began to use multi-layer quick turn PCB boards, and multi-layer quick turn PCB boards have developed rapidly. During this period, quick turn PCB boards with more than 20 layers used polyimide resin laminates as insulating substrates. In the rapid development period of quick turn PCB boards, quick turn PCB boards develop from 4 layers to 6 layers, 8 layers, 10 layers, 20 layers and more working layers, and at the same time realize high density, the specific wire width and spacing from 0.5mm is developing to 0.35mm, 0.2mm, and 0.1mm, and the wiring density per unit area of quick turn PCB boards is greatly increased. In addition, the original plug-in mounting technology on quick turn PCB boards is gradually transitioning to surface mount technology. Another important breakthrough in this period is the realization of the automatic assembly line, which can automatically realize the installation of components on quick turn PCB boards.

(5) The rapid development period of quick turn PCB boards

The period of rapid development of Quick turn PCB boards was the 1980s. In this historical period, quick turn PCB boards have achieved unprecedented development and are widely used in various fields, and have become an indispensable part of the electronic equipment production and manufacturing industry. At the same time, the design of multi-layer quick turn PCB boards has become the mainstream of design. After 1980, the high density of quick turn PCB boards has also been significantly improved, and multilayer glass-ceramic-based PCBs can already be produced. This high density has further promoted the rapid development of mobile communications and computers.

(6) The revolutionary period of quick turn PCB boards

The revolutionary period of Quick turn PCB boards is from the 1990s to the present. In the early 1990s, the development of quick turn PCB boards experienced a period of trough. In 1994, quick turn PCB boards began to resume its development, among which flexible PCB has achieved greater development. Beginning in 1998, the quick turn PCB boards of the build-up method began to enter the practical period, the output began to increase sharply, and the packaging form of IC devices also began to enter the packaging stage of BGA and CSP.

At present, the development direction of quick turn PCB boards is mainly in the direction of mechanization, industrialization, specialization, standardization and intelligence, and it has formed a new and powerful quick turn PCB boards manufacturing industry in the field of electronics industry. With the continuous advancement of science and technology, nanotechnology has gradually emerged and applied. It will drive the continuous development and progress of electronic components. It is believed that this technology will lead to the revolutionary development of the quick turn PCB boards manufacturing industry.

Functions of Quick Turn PCB Boards

Quick turn PCB boards mainly have the following functions:

(1) Quick turn PCB boards provide mechanical support for fixing and assembling various components.

(2) Quick turn PCB boards realize the wiring and electrical connection or electrical insulation between various components in the board, and provide the required electrical characteristics and characteristic impedance, etc.

(3) Quick turn PCB boards provide specific connection methods for the connection of components inside and outside the printed board.

(4) Quick turn PCB boards provide identification characters for component insertion, inspection and maintenance.

(5) Quick turn PCB boards provide solder mask graphics for automatic soldering.

Features of Quick Turn PCB Boards

The main advantages of Quick turn PCB boards are:

(1) Quick turn PCB boards reduce wiring and assembly errors due to the repeatability (reproducibility) and consistency of graphics, and save equipment maintenance, debugging and inspection time.

(2) Quick turn PCB boards can be standardized in design, which is convenient for interchange.

(3) Quick turn PCB boards have high wiring density, small size and light weight, which is conducive to the miniaturization of electronic equipment.

(4) Quick turn PCB boards are conducive to mechanized and automated production, which improves labor productivity and reduces the cost of electronic equipment.

Disadvantages of Quick Turn PCB Boards

The manufacturing process of Quick turn PCB boards is complicated, and single-piece or small-batch production is uneconomical.

Economic Effects of Quick Turn PCB Boards

Entering 2000, the quick turn PCB boards market exceeded $35 billion and will continue to grow. It can be expected that the output value of the quick turn PCB boards market will maintain a growth rate of about 6% per year, although the area of quick turn PCB boards may be slightly reduced due to miniaturization. The production of Quick turn PCB boards is divided into four major production regions (Americas, Europe, Japan, and Southeast Asia) worldwide. It is expected to shift slightly to Asia in the future, but this is only speculation, because there are many uncertain factors in the world. Electronic products will still continue to grow as in the past, but as we welcome the arrival of the communication age and the further comprehensive penetration and deepening of technology, its development speed will become faster.