Printed Circuit Board Materials Handbook

Citation

(1999), "Printed Circuit Board Materials Handbook", Circuit World, Vol. 25 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/cw.1999.21725dae.001

Printed Circuit Board Materials Handbook

Printed Circuit Board Materials Handbook

McGraw-Hill Electronic Packaging and Interconnection SeriesISBN: 0070324883Edited by Martin Jawitz800pp, 32 chapters, diagrams and photographs ­ £75 in Europe

Keywords:Printed circuit boards, Publication

It is difficult to review a new Printed Circuit book ­ or should that be Printed Wiring for the USA ­ when there is an established reference already in the industry, and in its fourth edition. I refer to the Coombs Printed Circuit Board Materials Handbook, which is possibly the most familiar to PCB engineers in Europe and, I guess, the world.

I am still not finished reading this manual and as it is several hundreds of pages it will take my next holiday to complete but I have enjoyed reading many of the chapters so far. Many chapters have practical photographs showing the process rather than the standard commercial machine shots which is a refreshing change. There tends to be a more hands-on approach to some of the text, which may not be found in other reference sources, which is always refreshing.

One of the omissions from this and other PCB text-books is a thorough coverage of alternative solder finishes like OSP, silver, palladium, tin, lacquer etc. The use of alternative finishes has been a focal point in the industry for the last four to five years. There is an interesting chapter on hot air levelling from Sherry Goodell who helps organise an HAL users group.

The text also does not pick up on the requirements of the modern fine pitch printed board and issues relating to design and assembly. It will, however, be a good source of information for the circuit professional and newcomers to our industry. Well done, Martin.