PCB Manufacturing Process and Our Products

A printed circuit board (PCB) connects and secures various electronic components such as capacitors and ICs to provide electronic circuit functionality. Typically, it consists of copper foil wiring applied to an insulating substrate. While traditional multilayer boards involve laminating multiple substrates, build-up boards—which form insulating layers and circuit patterns one layer at a time on the insulating substrate, then stack conductor layers with interlayer connections—are now mainstream. With the recent evolution of electronic devices, the miniaturization and increased density of printed circuit board patterns are also accelerating.

Pattern Design and Data Editing

Circuit patterns and solder‑resist patterns are designed and edited using CAM systems.
During the design phase, precise adjustments to line widths and spacing according to product specifications are required, and data optimization tailored to processes such as mSAP, SAP, and Subtractive methods is essential.

Copper-Clad Laminate Inspection

Inspect the quality of copper-clad laminates before processing to identify defects and abnormalities on the substrate surface. Eliminating defects at the initial stage improves yield in subsequent processes.

Photoresist coating

Apply photoresist uniformly to the substrate surface. In the mSAP process, the adhesion and uniformity of the resist are particularly critical.

Direct Patterning

Based on the CAM data, the circuit pattern is directly exposed onto the photoresist‑coated substrate without the use of a photomask. SCREEN’s direct imaging system provides high‑precision imaging and enables the formation of fine patterns.

Development, Etching, and Stripping

Unnecessary areas of the resist are removed through development and etching to create the copper circuitry.
After the patterning steps, the circuit is defined and the remaining photoresist is stripped away.
Circuit formation methods include subtractive processes, in which unwanted copper is etched away, as well as SAP and mSAP processes, which build the required circuitry through plating.
Precise control at each process step is essential, as preventing residue and pattern defects is key to maintaining consistent quality.

Pattern Inspection

SCREEN’s automatic optical inspection system, together with defect‑counting software, inspects each formed circuit for defects, appearance, and electrical continuity, and feeds the results back to the upstream process.
These processes are repeated after each insulation‑film coating step to build up the multilayer structure.

Laminate and Build-up

Build‑up: An insulating film is coated onto the substrate with the formed circuit, followed by laser drilling to create vias. Copper plating is then applied across the entire surface to establish interlayer conductivity. After applying photoresist, circuit formation is performed again. SAP/mSAP processes require extremely fine interlayer connections.
Multilayer Substrate: After lamination under heat and pressure, drilling and copper plating are performed.

Solder Resist Application

After the solder resist is applied, exposure is performed to remove areas where the resist is not required for component mounting.
With ongoing miniaturization, SCREEN’s direct imaging system plays a vital role in SAP and mSAP solder‑resist patterning, where positional accuracy and aperture quality have a direct impact on final product quality.

Solder Resist Exposure

After coating with solder resist, exposure is performed to remove areas where solder resist is unnecessary for component placement.
With recent miniaturization trends, SCREEN's Direct Imaging System plays a vital role in solder resist formation using SAP and mSAP processes, as positional accuracy and aperture quality directly impact final product quality.

Development

Excess solder resist remaining on both exposed and unexposed areas is removed with developer, opening the copper circuit patterns used for component mounting.
The formed solder‑resist layer is then visually inspected, and repairs are performed as necessary.

Outline Routing

In preparation for the component mounting process, metal treatment (e.g., gold plating) is applied, and the substrate is cut.

Final Inspection Process

SCREEN’s final visual inspection ensures the quality of the completed boards. Only boards that have passed all process steps and meet strict quality criteria are shipped.