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HDI Technology: A Perspective for the Designer
August 21, 2013 | Joe Fjelstad, Verdant ElectronicsEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Current-generation electronics are technological marvels, and yet the consuming public is rapidly inured to the advances that the electronics industry makes on a nearly everyday basis. They like what is delivered to them, but for the most part they haven't a clue relative to what it takes to make the magical devices, which nearly all of us have in our homes and carry on our persons on a daily basis.
That thought brings to mind the words of Arthur C. Clarke: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." In many ways what the electronics design and manufacturing industry does truly is magic, even though the basics of the technology have remained fundamentally the same for many years. It is still to this day, at its core, all about making and interconnecting conductor patterns in a manner that will allow for the electrical/electronic interconnection of tens to hundreds of electronic devices, each of which features uncounted thousands or tens of thousands of microscopic circuits of their own. That it all works in harmony is nothing short of miraculous, and the printed circuit stage on which the “magic” has been performed for several decades over makes it one of the longest running magic shows on record.
For technology history buffs, tracing the evolution of printed circuit technology can be a fascinating field of interest and study. While there have been many different methodologies employed over the last seven decades to create what is arguably the foundation of all electronic products, there are really but two fundamental constants which have served as “genetic markers” allowing the observer to track technological change over time. Those two fundamental constants are conductor width and via (or hole) diameter. Read the full article here.Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the May 2013 issue of The PCB Design Magazine.