What Are the Most Common Types of High Density Interconnect?

Types of High Density Interconnect

High-density interconnect, or HDI, is a form of printed circuit board that allows more components to be packed into smaller spaces. It is used in the design of a wide variety of electronic products, including laptops, tablets and smartphones. It is also found in many types of telecommunication equipment, including routers and switches. High-density PCBs are capable of delivering higher performance in more compact designs.

Designed with microvias, blind vias and via-in-pads, this technology is capable of reducing the size of the circuit board by a significant amount. It also improves signal integrity by removing stubs caused by traditional through-hole vias and thereby shortening the distance between components. It also eliminates signal reflection and increases signal quality.

This is achieved by incorporating copper plating on all layers. This ensures that the high density interconnect board is able to conduct power and signals effectively even after long periods of use. In addition, the use of HDI technology enables the use of thinner dielectrics that can support more complex designs.

What Are the Most Common Types of High Density Interconnect?

In addition to offering greater functionality, high-density interconnect boards are also more cost-effective than standard PCBs. This is due to the fact that they require fewer layers, smaller dimensions and a reduced number of component holes. Furthermore, it is possible to use the buried and blind vias in combination to reduce overall costs.

These types of PCBs are used in a variety of industries, including consumer electronics, telecommunication systems and the automotive and aerospace industry. They are also increasingly being used in healthcare applications such as medical imaging equipment and blood analyzers. In all these industries, the goal is to fit more advanced technology into smaller footprint devices without sacrificing quality or performance.

In order to meet this demand, manufacturers are turning to HDI technology. In fact, any PCB that has a more dense placement of components and denser interconnections is considered to be a high-density board. Typically, these are multi-layer PCBs that are held together through a lamination process. They can feature a standard core construction with through-vias, alternative coreless construction with layer pairs or an all-through structure with no through-holes at all.

To manufacture a HDI PCB, the inner copper layers are etched and separated into distinct segments. These are then stacked like books and held together using various types of vias. The resulting board is characterized by its thin dielectrics and its dense microvias, which are typically laser-drilled to achieve very small via diameters with precise hole location. This technology is most commonly utilized in 2+N+2 and 3+N+3 lamination structures, although it can be employed for 1+N+1 and other configurations as well. The finished boards undergo 100% electrical testing using flying probe or bed of nails testers to verify that they meet a variety of specifications and are ready for production. The manufacturing process for HDI PCBs is streamlined to minimize the chance of defects. This is accomplished by using a special sequence of operations to ensure that the stack-up is cured properly and that each layer has sufficient copper routing.