Circuits Assembly Magazine

Circuits Assembly Magazine Circuits Assembly has more than 30 years as the clear-cut leading brand and technical publication for electronics manufacturers worldwide.

12/23/2025

ince 2018, Reliability Matters has been building a knowledge vault, capturing the wisdom of industry experts for engineers everywhere. In this special year-end episode, we celebrate the journey, the growth, and the community that made it possible.

12/23/2025

Mike Konrad continues a dive into the world of contract manufacturing—a vital piece of the electronics ecosystem.Joining him are two industry leaders who know this space inside and out. First, we have Daniel Stanphill, SMT process engineer at Aurora Boardworks, and alongside him, Sean Kincaid, pre...

PCEA wishes you a safe and happy holiday! We're looking forward to 2026!
12/19/2025

PCEA wishes you a safe and happy holiday! We're looking forward to 2026!

Check out John Burkhert's feature in the December digital on "Interconnect Technology for Chiplets: UCIe 3.0 is where ba...
12/18/2025

Check out John Burkhert's feature in the December digital on "Interconnect Technology for Chiplets: UCIe 3.0 is where bandwidth meets bravado." https://digital.pcea.net/issues/december-2025/designers-notebook/

"In August, the Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express standard revision 3 was issued. This follows revision 2 by exactly a year. The first selling point of revision 3 is higher data rates, double that of the previous version. If that sounds like another standard, PCIe, then chalk it up to UCIe using PCIe as a template, along with the Compute Express Link (CXL), to build the UCIe ecosystem. It remains adaptable and scalable according to needs."

Check out Hemant Shah's feature in the December digital on "From One-Way Handoffs to True Bidirectional Design Data Exch...
12/17/2025

Check out Hemant Shah's feature in the December digital on "From One-Way Handoffs to True Bidirectional Design Data Exchange Using IPC-2581: A simpler, smarter way to get stackups right the first time." https://digital.pcea.net/issues/december-2025/data-transfer/

"For years, we talked about “handing off” design data to manufacturing partners. Many still do. The handoff model is simple: design sends “build intent” in one direction, usually through a mix of emails, spreadsheets, PowerPoints and Word documents.

Almost every handoff – 99.99% – contains conflicting or incomplete data. This forces the fabricator to come back with questions, clarifications and technical queries. There’s no true back-and-forth, no structured loop and no clean way to exchange data that is consumable by the or CAM tools.

This month, we will focus on a key piece of the puzzle: data exchange. Next month, we’ll dive into electronic and technical queries (TQs)."

Save the date for PCB East April 28 - May 1 (one-day exhibition on Wednesday, April 29) at the DCU Convention Center in ...
12/16/2025

Save the date for PCB East April 28 - May 1 (one-day exhibition on Wednesday, April 29) at the DCU Convention Center in , MA! Visit pcbeast.com for more information.

Connect with leading suppliers and explore cutting-edge technology in , , and . Experience the future of at the one-day exhibition

Continue your learning journey with the 4-day conference (April 29 - May 2), featuring leading industry experts.

The Industry's Conference and Exhibition.

Brought to you by PCEA .

Check out Ed Dodd's feature in the December digital on "The Victory Plan Reborn: How the DoW is Mobilizing the Industr...
12/15/2025

Check out Ed Dodd's feature in the December digital on "The Victory Plan Reborn: How the DoW is Mobilizing the Industrial Base: Innovation gets applause, manufacturing gets contracts." https://digital.pcea.net/issues/december-2025/dodd/

"We’re almost out of time. That is the message underlying US Department of War Secretary Peter Hegseth’s 'Arsenal of Freedom' speech on acquisition reform last month. We’ve spent a long time chasing 'perfect,' with successful programs creating low volumes of some of the most exquisite military systems in the world. These military systems have allowed us to dominate non-peer adversaries with little attrition. Recently, the war in Ukraine and threats in the Indo-Pacific have resurrected the threat of near-peer conflict. They have shown us what to expect from modern battlefields and have exposed a fundamental flaw in the DoW’s acquisition approach: slowness."

Check out Mark Finstad's feature in the December digital on "Flex Final Finishes: can use rigid board finishes, but so...
12/12/2025

Check out Mark Finstad's feature in the December digital on "Flex Final Finishes: can use rigid board finishes, but some of them crack under pressure the moment you ask them to bend." https://digital.pcea.net/issues/december-2025/the-flexperts/

"Is it possible for flex circuits to have the same final finishes available for rigid ?

Yes, you can use any of the final finishes available for , but whether you should use them depends on the application. Some standard finishes used on rigid PCBs are not suitable for flex applications. Here we go over some of the common and emerging finishes and the impact of using them on ."

Check out Akber Roy's feature in the December digital on "Hybrid vs. Single Material Stackup in : Good isn’t just abo...
12/11/2025

Check out Akber Roy's feature in the December digital on "Hybrid vs. Single Material Stackup in : Good isn’t just about power; it’s about knowing where not to over-engineer."

"As modern electronic devices combine , high-speed digital and power circuitry on a single PCB, the demand for tailored electrical performance continues to increase. A hybrid material stackup is often adopted to meet such mixed-signal requirements, especially in where , and low dielectric loss are crucial.

In RF or , high-frequency materials significantly reduce insertion loss and signal degradation. Using these premium materials across the entire board, however, can be expensive and unnecessary for sections that carry low-speed or low-power signals."

Check out Marc Schwanbeck's feature in the December digital on "Nexperia Crisis Exposes Hidden Fragility in the : Just ...
12/09/2025

Check out Marc Schwanbeck's feature in the December digital on "Nexperia Crisis Exposes Hidden Fragility in the : Just when the industry thought the shortage saga was over, the parts giant hit refresh on the chaos." https://digital.pcea.net/issues/december-2025/schwanbeck/

"The global electronics industry faces another shortage situation. What began as a governance dispute between the Dutch government and the Chinese ownership of Nexperia has morphed into a geopolitical crisis with wide-ranging impacts on the assembly industry.

Nexperia manufactures discrete semiconductors, including diodes, Mosfets, GaN FETs, IGBTs and analog and logic ICs. These are foundational components that populate virtually every PCB in applications ranging from automotive and home appliances to industrial equipment. The company operates assembly facilities in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, with final testing and packaging performed in China."

Check out George Toms's feature in the December digital on "A Novel Synthesis Approach for Simplifying : Optimizing int...
12/05/2025

Check out George Toms's feature in the December digital on "A Novel Synthesis Approach for Simplifying : Optimizing interconnects, fanouts and signal structures before ." https://digital.pcea.net/issues/december-2025/toms/

"As ( ) grow denser, faster and more power-constrained, designers face mounting challenges maintaining signal integrity, power efficiency and manufacturability. Traditionally, most optimization occurs after schematic capture – during placement and routing – when it’s often too late to remove structural inefficiencies.

A new logic-level approach directly impacts board-level performance and complexity. By optimizing interconnects, fanouts and signal structures before schematic capture, a new gate-level synthesis technology enables to start with a cleaner, more efficient foundation."

Check out Kevin VanNattan's feature in the December digital on "5 Things That Will Haunt Your Plating Tanks and practica...
12/04/2025

Check out Kevin VanNattan's feature in the December digital on "5 Things That Will Haunt Your Plating Tanks and practical steps to exorcise the chemistry demons." https://digital.pcea.net/issues/december-2025/vannattan/

"Each fall brings ghosts, goblins and, if you’re not careful, a few monsters lurking right inside your plating tanks. They won’t knock on your door or ring a bell, but they will hide in your agitation systems, anodes and cables. If ignored, they can turn a good product into scrap before you even notice."

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Read the latest issue of CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY now!

Materials Considerations for Automotive Radar Designs

Advanced safety systems require cars to react in response to external changes, leaving decisions to the vehicle, not the human occupants. An investigation of chemical process changes needed to improve radar module reliability, looking at radar designs, reliability requirements, and improvement options at the board and packaging levels.

by Lenora Clark, Paul Salerno and Senthil Kanagavel