High-Volume Rigid PCB Manufacturing

Sierra Electrotek builds your high-volume rigid PCBs right here in Wisconsin. Get in touch with our experts to discuss your manufacturing requirements, special needs, and turnaround times.

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Solid and rigid

The increasing demand for consumer electronics and other industrial applications calls for high-volume PCB fabrication and assembly. It is important to choose a dependable and capable CM to cater to your mass production requirements.

If you’re looking for a circuit board that can withstand higher levels of temperature and stress, then rigid boards can be a good choice.

Rigid circuit boards, as the name implies, are made of hard fiber-glass-based dielectric material. These boards can be found in almost all commercial applications and critical industries such as space, defense, and medical. Rigid PCBs can find their applications in static devices that operate under very high-voltage and high-temperature environments.

Challenges in designing a rigid circuit board

Designing an optimum stack-up and layout is critical to fabricating a reliable and cost-effective circuit board. Inappropriate layout can result in various signal integrity issues, such as EMI and crosstalk.

To facilitate an optimal fabrication process, your design should adhere to your CM’s design for manufacturing (DFM) guidelines. In addition to this, you need to provide all the required data, such as Gerbers, ODB++, drill file, netlist, BOM, and so on. You will find the list below on this page.

Early collaboration with your CM can save you time and money by avoiding unnecessary board re-spins. So don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions.

Capabilites Overview

  • Up to 30 layers
  • Board thickness:.005″-250″
  • Max panel size: 21″ x 29″
  • Min trace and space:.002″
  • Solder mask feature tolerance:.001″
  • Blind and buried vias

Fabrication Plus

  • Routed arrays
  • Edge plating
  • Bevels
  • Heat sinks
  • Electrical testing
  • 10% impedance tolerance

Certifications

  • ITAR
  • IPC 6012 class 1, 2 & 3
  • AS9100D
  • NADCAP
  • MIL-PRF-55110
  • MIL-PRF-31032/1
  • MIL-PRF-31032/2
  • ISO 9001:2015
Board parameters for rigid PCBs
STANDARD ADVANCED MICRO
Min Layer Count 1 1 1
Max Layer Count 30 30 30
Min Board Thickness .010” (.254 mm) .005” (.127 mm) .005” (.127 mm)
Max Board Thickness .250” (6.35 mm) .250” (6.35 mm) .250” (6.35 mm)
Min Core Thickness .004” (.102 mm) .002” (.051 mm) .002” (.051 mm)
Min Dielectric .004” (.102 mm) .003” (.076 mm) .002″ (.051 mm)
Min Starting Copper Foil Weight 9 microns 9 microns 5 micron
Max Finished Copper Thickness (O/L) 4 oz (118 ml) 6 oz (177 ml) 1 oz (30 ml)
Max Finished Copper Thickness (I/L) 4 oz (118 ml) 4 oz (118 ml) 0.5 oz (15 ml)
Min Panel Size 12” x 18” (30 x 46 cm) 12” x 18” (30 x 46 cm) 12″ x 18″ (30 x 46 cm)
Max Panel Size 12” x 18” (30 x 46 cm) 21” x 29” (53 x 74 cm) 18″ x 24″ (46 x 61 cm)
Smallest Mechanical Drill Diameter .0059” (.150 mm) .0059” (.150 mm) .0059″ (.150 mm)
Smallest Laser Drill Diameter .005″ (.127 mm) .004″ (.102 mm) .004″ (.102 mm)
Min Finished Hole Size .004” (.102 mm) .002” (.051 mm) .002″ (.051 mm)
Max Through Hole Aspect Ratio (depending on board thickness and finish hole) .010” (.254 mm) .005” (.127 mm) .005” (.127 mm)
Min Board Thickness 10:1 10:1 10:1
Max Laser Via Aspect Ratio .75:1 .75:1 .75:1
Blind Via Finished Hole Size .004” (.102 mm) Plated Shut Plated shut
Buried Via Finished Hole Size .004” (.102 mm) .002” (.051 mm) .002″ (.051 mm)
Min Trace and Space .004” (.102 mm) .003” (.076 mm) .002″ (.051 mm)
Min Pad Size for Test .005” (.127 mm) .005” (.127 mm) .005” (.127 mm)
Process Pad Diameter D + .012” (.305 mm) (1-mil (.025-mm) annular ring) D + .008” (.203 mm) (tangency) D + .008” (.203 mm) (tangency)
Stacked Vias Yes Yes Yes
Min Wire Bond Pad Size > .006” (.152 mm) .004” (.102 mm) .004″ (.102 mm)
Controlled Impedance Tolerance 10% 5% 5%
Solder Mask Registration .002” (.051 mm) 001” (.025 mm) .001″ (.025 mm)
Solder Mask Feature Tolerance .0015” (.038 mm) .001” (.025 mm) .001” (.025 mm)
Solder Mask Min Dam Size (based on green soldermask color) .005” (.127 mm) .004” (.102 mm) .004” (.102 mm)
Min Diameter Route Cutter Available .024” (.610 mm) .021” (.533 mm) .021” (.533 mm)
Routed Part Size Tolerance .005” (.127 mm) .003” (.076 mm) .003″ (.076 mm)
Laser Hole Location Tolerance .0005” (.013 mm) .0005” (.013 mm) .0005″ (.013 mm)
Laser Routed Part Size Tolerance ( can only be done with panels .032” thick) 002” (.051 mm) 002” (.051 mm) .001″ (.025 mm)
Bow and Twist Tolerance Per IPC spec Per IPC spec Per IPC spec
Thickness Tolerance (based on board thickness) 10% 5% 5%
Sequential Laminations 3 or less lamination cycles 4 lamination cycles 5 lamination cycles
Buried Vias Yes Yes Yes
Blind Vias Yes Yes Yes
Conductive Filled Vias Yes Yes Yes – Cu plate shut
Non Conductive Filled Vias Yes Yes Yes
Surface finish parameters for rigid PCBs
STANDARD ADVANCED MICRO
HASL (Vertical or Horizontal) Yes Yes No
Lead Free HASL Yes Yes No
OSP (Shikoku F2) Yes Yes Yes
OSP (Entek) Yes Yes Yes
ENIG (Electroless Nickel/Immersion Gold) Yes Yes Yes
Immersion Silver Yes Yes No
Electrolytic Soft Gold Yes Yes Yes
Electrolytic Hard Gold Yes Yes Yes
Selective Gold Yes Yes Yes
Solder mask finish parameters for rigid PCBs
STANDARD ADVANCED MICRO
Semi – Glossy Yes Yes Yes
Glossy Yes Yes Yes
Matte Yes Yes Yes
Solder mask color parameters for rigid PCBs
STANDARD ADVANCED MICRO
Green Yes Yes Yes
Black Yes Yes Yes
Red Yes Yes Yes
Blue Yes Yes Yes
Yellow Yes No No
White Yes No No
Clear Yes Yes Yes
Bright White Yes No No
Purple Yes No No
Legend mask parameters for rigid PCBs
STANDARD ADVANCED MICRO
All Colors Yes Yes Yes
Mechanical parameters for rigid PCBs
STANDARD ADVANCED MICRO
Routed Array Yes Yes Yes
V Score, Edge to Copper .01” .007” (.178 mm) .007″ (.178 mm)
V Score Angles 35°, 45°, 60° 35°, 45°, 60° 35°, 45°, 60°
Countersink Yes Yes Yes
Counterbore Yes No No
Bevel Yes No No
Milling +/- .003” (.076 mm) +/- .002” (.051 mm) +/- .001” (.025 mm)
Edge Castellation Yes No No
Edge Plating Yes No No
Heatsinks No Yes No
Electrical testing for rigid PCBs
STANDARD ADVANCED MICRO
10 Volt Yes Yes Yes
40 Volt (Burn-In Boards) Yes Yes Yes
250 Volt No Yes Yes
500 Volt No Yes Yes
Hi Pot No Yes Yes
Laminate material parameters for rigid PCBs
STANDARD ADVANCED MICRO
Arlon 85NT No Yes No
Bergquist No Yes No
Flexible Polyimide No Yes Yes
Hybrid Constructions Yes Yes Yes
Isola 370HR Yes Yes Yes
Isola FR406 Yes Yes Yes
Isola FR408 HR Yes Yes Yes
Isola P95 Yes Yes Yes
Isola P96 Yes Yes Yes
Iteq IT180 Yes Yes Yes
Nelco BT N5000 Yes Yes Yes
Nelco N4000-13 Yes Yes Yes
Nelco N4000-29 Yes Yes No
Nelco N7000-2 Yes Yes Yes
Hi Pot No Yes Yes
No Flow Prepreg Yes Yes Yes
Panasonic Megtron Yes Yes Yes
Panasonic R1755 Yes Yes No
Panasonic R1766 Yes Yes Yes
Polyclad Getek Yes Yes Yes
PSA Bond Film No Yes Yes
Rogers 3000 Series Yes Yes No
Rogers R4000 Series Yes Yes No
Rogers 5000 Series Yes Yes No
Rogers 6000 Series Yes Yes No
Rogers TMM Yes Yes No
Ventec VT47 Yes No No
Available reports for rigid PCBs
STANDARD ADVANCED MICRO
Microsection Yes Yes Yes
Solderability Yes Yes Yes
X-Ray Fluorescence Yes Yes Yes
Ionic Contamination Yes Yes Yes
Time Domain Reflectometry Test (TDR) Yes Yes Yes
FAI Yes Yes Yes
Certificate of Compliance Yes Yes Yes
UL certifications for rigid PCBs
STANDARD ADVANCED MICRO
94VO Yes Yes No
PCB certifications for rigid PCBs
STANDARD ADVANCED MICRO
MIL-PRF-55110 Yes No No
MIL-PRF-31032/1 Yes No No
MIL-PRF-31032/2 Yes No No
IPC 6012, Class 1, 2 and 3 Yes Yes Yes
ISO 9001:2015 Yes Yes Yes
ISO 13485:2016 Yes Yes Yes