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PCB Knowledge Base

Search and browse technology documentation, product specifications, and detailed answers from our experts.

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Join our PCB forum SierraConnect and connect with hundreds of designers and engineers. Ask your questions and get answers from the community and the Sierra experts.

Learn PCB

Knowing more about manufacturing processes will help you design cost-effective and robust boards. Check out our Learn PCB mini-blog to get guidelines and a look behind the fab curtains.

Certifications

Sierra Circuits is NIST, IPC, & ISO certified, DLA approved, and ITAR registered. We have the UL seal of approval and have exceptional materials compliance and reporting.

PCB design guides

The PCB design guides provide critical information to prevent delays and avoid unnecessary costs. From flex and HDI, to controlled impedance and DFM, we cover a vast range of topics.

Fab & assembly capabilities

Whether you're looking for advanced boards made from exotic metals or full-turnkey prototype assemblies, there's a reason Sierra Circuits leads the industry in quality and performance.

Defense & space capabilities

Technical specs for aerospace and defense customers. Sierra Circuits manufactures, assembles, and rigorously tests rugged, reliable IPC 6012 class 3/A PCBs in as fast as 2 days.

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Popular Learn PCB topics

While electronic components process information in form of electrical signals, a printed circuit board is the skeletal structure on which the electronic components are mounted and soldered to hold them together and provide pathways for information to flow between components through PCB traces.

Kitting guidelines

Kitting in PCB assembly is driven by growing customization and usage of component variants essential for assembly. Following the specific Sierra Circuits kitting guidelines is crucial to obtain high-quality products at competitive pricing.

How to design footprints

Footprints depict the land pattern of a component on a bare PCB. It is the region in which the component will be soldered. It is basically the physical interface between the board and the component.

Schematic design rules

A schematic diagram is a fundamental two-dimensional circuit representation showing the connectivity between different electrical components in a circuit board. Each of these components has its footprint that defines the terminal geometry of the component. A schematic can be an extremely valuable troubleshooting tool as it traces out the connections in the circuit.

PCB via design

Vias are tiny conductive paths that establish electrical connection between the different PCB layers. Learn more about PCB via design. Learn more about PCB via design by scrolling down below.

PCB manufacturing overview

PCB manufacturing involves converting design files which include Gerbers and netlists into a physical circuit board on which components can be placed and soldered.

Annular ring size

When an annular ring is less than the specified width, the attachment of the component might be affected. This might lead to a pad breakout that refers to a condition of an annular ring being absent or of zero width.

PCB layout rules

Drawing a schematic of a circuit is the initial stage in PCB design. CAD software is then used to convert this block diagram into schematic drawings. A schematic is made up of component symbols and the connections that connect them. These nets will become copper traces on the circuit board.

Our best blogs

IPC class 2 vs class 3: The different design rules

As circuit board manufacturers, designers often ask us about the difference between IPC Class 2 and Class 3. Class 1 does exist although we rarely produce boards that fall into this classification. Most of the...

Why controlled impedance matters

Every day, PCB designs and components become smaller, faster – in other words, more complicated. It is now crucial to understand your critical nets and traces, impedances, and how the board impacts the performance of...

11 best high-speed routing practices

A PCB designer has a difficult task when it comes to routing a circuit board. Things get a lot more complicated when the design involves high-speed signals. In an effort to help these PCB designers,...

7 tips for EMC and EMI

Electromagnetic interference (EMI) is associated with every electronic device we use nowadays. If you turn on your radio set and TV simultaneously, you will experience the noisy disturbance from TV interfering with the radio signal...

The use of decoupling capacitors

System noise has become a critical issue for both analog and digital devices. The requirement for speedy interfaces and lower power consumption has resulted in devices being sensitive to disturbances from power and signal lines.

8 common errors in SMT

Surface mount technology is not a zero-defect soldering process. In this article, we will look into simple defects in surface mount technology (SMT) that cause your PCB to fail and try to work out how...