PCB Fabrication

Printed Circuit Board Design

Printed circuit board (PCB) design is one of the most important stages in product development life cycle, especially for advanced electronics, which are packed with components and functionalities. PCB design engineering ensures your PCBs are assembled right as per requirements, resulting in products that are well-optimized for manufacturability and cost effectiveness.
At Twisted Traces, we offer custom circuit board design services tailored to meet the most demanding project requirements. We use automation tools for designing multilayered intricate layouts to ensure that your PCB assemblies are of the highest quality and meet the requirements.

PCB Design Capabilities

At Twisted Traces, we have developed a wide range of capabilities that enable us to efficiently handle even the most complex PCB fabrication tasks. Here’s a look at our comprehensive PCB design and fabrication capabilities.

1 to 20+ Layer Designs: We offer flexible multilayer PCB design services, ranging from simple single-layer boards to complex 20+ layer designs and beyond.
Controlled Depth Back Drilling: Our controlled depth back drilling process improves signal integrity and reduces electrical noise by precisely removing unwanted vias in high-speed circuits.
Vias in Pad: We provide vias in pad solutions to enhance board density.
Blind & Buried Vias: Our expertise in blind and buried vias enables the creation of high-density, multi-layer circuit boards with optimized routing and minimal signal interference.
High-Density Interconnects (HDI): We specialize in high-density interconnect (HDI) boards, providing more compact and efficient designs by increasing the number of connections per unit area.
Mixed Dielectrics: We work with mixed dielectrics to optimize signal integrity, thermal management, and electrical performance.
Epoxy and Conductive Fill: Our epoxy and conductive fill services ensure optimal insulation, reliability, and electrical conductivity.
Controlled Impedance: We deliver controlled impedance designs to ensure consistent signal quality and reduce reflections.
RF and Microwave Circuits: We design and fabricate RF and microwave circuits with careful attention to signal integrity and reduced losses.
Metal Core PCBs: Our metal core PCBs offer improved thermal management and enhanced reliability.
Plated Edges & Cavities: We provide precision-plated edges and cavities, enabling efficient heat dissipation and advanced component mounting options for high-performance designs.
UL Certified Laminates: We use UL certified laminates to ensure compliance with industry safety standards.
Bonded Heat Sinks: Our bonded heat sinks can effectively manage heat dissipation.
Through-hole and Surface Mount Designs: We offer both through-hole and surface mount designs to meet the varying needs of your project.
Reverse Engineering: Our reverse engineering services allow us to recreate or modify existing PCB designs.
High-Speed Backplane & Mid-plane Designs: We specialize in high-speed backplane and mid-plane designs, enabling the creation of complex, high-performance systems.

PCB Design and Assembly Prerequisites

At Twisted Traces, in addition to our PCB manufacturing services, we also offer comprehensive PCB assembly solutions. To ensure a smooth and efficient design and assembly process, we request our clients to provide the following essential information.

Bill of Materials (BOM): We ask our clients to provide a detailed Bill of Materials (BOM) in MS-Excel format. This file includes a list of all components along with their part numbers, quantities, and other details required for the PCB design. It helps us understand the application requirements, tolerances, and specific needs of your project. Along with this, a complete datasheet for each circuit will help us fulfill the client’s requirements accurately and efficiently.
Board outline: Before we proceed with placing footprints, we need a clear board outline. So, we require an Intermediate Data Format (IDF) file, which can be easily imported into our system. This allows us to set up the design quickly and accurately.
Schematic: The PCB design process begins with the creation of the schematic, which serves as the blueprint for placing components and laying out the traces on the PCB. To facilitate this, we request our clients to supply a complete schematic of the circuit. You can send the schematic in any of the following formats:

PCB123
CAD Schematic
Altium
Protel
Netlist

Beneficial Features of PCB Design and Layout Services

Below are the key beneficial features of our advanced PCB design and layout services:

Schematic capture: We convert your electrical requirements into a schematic representation, forming the foundation for the entire PCB design process.
Board layouts: We create precise multilayer PCB design layouts based on the schematic provided, ensuring every component is positioned efficiently for maximum performance.
Realized design: We generate clear and detailed drawings for both the fabrication and assembly processes, ensuring smooth production and assembly.
RF layouts: Specialized layouts for RF (Radio Frequency) applications are designed to ensure high-frequency signals are transmitted with minimal interference and loss.
Controlled impedance: We design both single-ended and differential circuits with controlled impedance to maintain signal integrity, especially in high-speed applications.
Creation of new footprints: Our engineers create custom footprints for components, ensuring optimal space utilization and mechanical integrity in your design.
Compliance with industry standards: We adhere to industry standards and best practices, utilizing rules-driven designs to ensure reliability and manufacturability.
Verification of board layouts: Our design team ensures the integrity of your layout by creating and validating the board layout database, helping prevent errors during manufacturing.
Stackups: We carefully design PCB stackups to ensure the correct impedance and signal integrity across all layers of the board.
Component placement: Strategic component placement is critical for minimizing interference and optimizing performance. We carefully arrange components to meet these needs.
Design testing: We perform thorough checks for signal integrity, verifying trace widths, spacing, and other critical parameters to ensure high-performance circuit board designs.
Calculating trace width and spacing: We meticulously calculate and adjust trace width and spacing to maintain controlled impedance and signal integrity, crucial for high-speed digital and analog circuits.
Trace length matching: For high-speed circuits, we ensure proper trace length matching to prevent timing errors and signal degradation.
Height restrictions: We consider any height restrictions for components and ensure that your design complies with space limitations.
DFM clearances: Our DFM approach includes verifying clearance requirements to avoid manufacturing defects, ensuring your design is ready for cost-effective production.
Routing techniques: We use advanced routing techniques to optimize the electrical and mechanical layout, ensuring the best signal flow and minimal interference.
Valor Design Validation: We use Valor Design Validation to ensure the design is ready for manufacturing by checking for potential errors and inconsistencies early in the process.
Documentation: A comprehensive set of documentation is created, including fabrication, assembly, and testing instructions, to guide the manufacturing process smoothly.
EMI testing: We perform thorough Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) checks to ensure that your design meets industry standards for electromagnetic compliance.

Additional Services

In addition to our core PCB services, we provide the following specialized offerings:

High current/voltage designs
Fine pitch BGA layouts
Sensitive analog circuits
EMI protection
PCB electronic designs
Cable assembly designs
User interface integration
Member switch design
RoHS-compliant PCB designs

Get in Touch with Twisted Traces Today!

With years of industry experience, Twisted Traces is your trusted partner for high-quality PCB design, manufacturing, and testing services. Our commitment to excellence ensures we deliver PCB layouts that perfectly meet your needs. Ready to take your project to the next level? Reach out to us today!
Call us at (630) 345-5400 or email your queries to quotes@twistedtraces.com. We're here to help you with all your PCB requirements!

FAQs

What is Design for Manufacturability (DFM)?
DFM is the practice of designing PCBs in a way that they are convenient and cost effective to manufacture as per the requirement. It involves considering factors such as component placement, trace width, via sizes, and materials to optimize production efficiency.

What is PCB trace width?
Trace width refers to the width of the copper paths on a PCB that carry electrical current. This is an important aspect because if it’s too narrow, the trace can overheat or even fail. The width depends on the current rating and the copper thickness.

How do I ensure signal integrity in my PCB design?

Signal integrity can be maintained by:
- Minimizing trace length for high-frequency signals.
- Using proper impedance matching for traces.
- Ensuring good grounding and using ground planes.
- Keeping signals away from noisy components.