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72 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I MARCH 2023 ere are several testing methods used for certifying that the circuit board meets its defined quality level and intended functional criteria. Multilayer circuit boards have become increasingly complex: finer conductor line definition, blind and buried microvia inter- face, and smaller, finer-pitch SMT land pat- tern geometries. Visual assessment using auto- mated optical inspection (AOI) is adopted to check all circuit layers prior to lamination and as a final examination of the end product. Flying probe testing, in particular, is a method that uses multiple contactors designed to make rapid electrical contact on exposed conductive terminal sites of the PCB surface. Users have found that the flying probe electri- PCB Design for Bare Board Testing cal test is very accurate; it is capable of quickly measuring the electrical characteristics of each board with a high accuracy, ensuring that the board meets the specifications of the design. Probe contactors rapidly move across the cir- cuit board's surface, allowing the test to be completed in a short amount of time. is is beneficial when time is of the essence, such as when a product needs to be released to market quickly. e probes travel across the surface of the board, making contact at pre-designated locations to verify interconnect integrity. Compared to fixed-probe testing, the flying probe test is not dedicated to a single board design and can test a variety of circuit board designs using the same testing system. By uti- Designers Notebook by Vern Solberg, CONSULTANT