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APRIL 2024 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 63 Figure 11. ere are considerable minimum line and spacing requirements and the prodigious cop- per weight impedes most finer pitch SMT components. ere are also a limited number of capable suppliers as UL-certified materials have a 6-ounce ceiling. Hybrid By bringing digital features to the surface and relegating heavy copper to the inner lay- ers, the hybrid method allows for finer lines and spaces to accommodate finer pitch com- ponents. Hybrid uses standard manufacturing methods to connect the heavy copper inner layers with vias and component holes. Never- theless, the increased materials and processing make it more expensive than a standard PCB— though still more economical than the plate-up method. e fabricator might advise increasing the overall thickness to accommodate the increased prepreg plies required to fill internal copper lay- ers (utilizing layer ink provides a solution here as we will discuss in the next section). While some shops lack the necessary equipment for the hybrid method, most domestic fabricators should be able to provide it. Plate-up Plating-up reaches the desired finished cop- per weight by starting at a lower copper weight Figure 12: Example of the hybrid method.