In practice, the mask expansion opening will match the shape of the object. A lack of solder mask isnt as much of an issue, yet a solder mask can reduce soldering time by guiding solder to the pads. Altium designer notes and pcb design guidelines github. The expansion is measured from the edge of the copper. How to choose the correct solder mask for your pcb altium. Minimum solder mask sliver helps identify narrow sections of solder mask that may cause manufacturing problems later. The shape that is created on the solder mask layer at each pad and via site is the pad or via shape or hole, expanded or contracted radially by. What is solder mask bridge and solder mask opening on a pcb. Therefore, in recent years, i exclusively order boards with solder mask and silkscreen. This is the expansion of mask relief over pad area.
Pcb design guidelines eurocircuits eurocircuits pcb. Plane this category offers the following rule types. Thicknesses of pi and pet films range from mil to 3 mils, with 1 or 2 mils being typical. A solder bridge is an unintended electrical connection between two conductors by means of a small blob of solder. Then find the appropriate drc or stackup and click to download. D then r design rules manufacturing hole to hole clearance. Why there is pcb solder mask blistering after soldering. Download a free trial to find out which altium software best suits your needs. To access your files, click the button below with your platform. Figure 2 shows an example of the recommended dimensions. Solder mask expansion enhancements altium designer 15. A feature which helps you to define pcb layers based on how they are used instead of assigning them to a specific mechanical layer. Solder mask expansion online documentation for altium products.
The shape that is created on the solder mask layer at each pad and via site is the pad or via shape expanded or contracted radially by. Weve expanded your options for defining solder mask expansions from the hole edge or pad edge for greater precision and control in your pcb designs. Options are available to follow the expansion defined in the applicable design rule, or to override the rule and apply a specified expansion directly to the individual pad or via in question. We can only conditionally recommend vias vias covered with solderstop. Solder mask expansion from hole altium designer 15. What is the relationship between hole and solder mask.
The new pad and via solder mask expansion settings are reflected in all the applicable definition points within altium designer, such as the. Paste mask expansion can also be defined at the individual level for the following objects through their associated properties dialogs. You can create a shape using an obtsacle on solderamask layer, but. Altium techdocs are online documentation for altium products, providing the basic information you need to get the most out of our tools. In any case, i havent run across a manufacturer that offers silkscreen without solder mask. Altium techdocs are online documentation for altium products, providing. May 17, 2017 today we have a software namely altium to introduce to you. Altium designer silk to solder mask clearance design rule.
Apply a solderresist mask to pcbs printed circuit boards. Solder mask or solder stop mask or solder resist is a thin lacquerlike layer of polymer that is usually applied to the copper traces of a printed circuit board pcb for protection against oxidation and to prevent solder bridges from forming between closely spaced solder pads. Altium designer lets you easily adjust settings on your. Jun 26, 2018 positive solder mask expansion means there exists a distance between the pad outer perimeter and the end of the solder mask around it that is uncovered. Altium how to set and use layer type very useful in libraries. Aug 23, 2018 solder mask expansion can be defined for pads and vias on an individual basis in the associated properties dialog. Some of you may already know this leading pcb design software that has some extra juice. Altium designer provides easy tools for specifying solder mask clearances. There are exceptions to this of course, but they will normally be defined by the engineer or by the mfr data sheet. You should pay special attention to solderstop bridges solderstop between two pads or vias, which should not be smaller than 100m green solderstop or 150m coloured solderstop respectively. Then the board will immediately fail the endofline gonogo test. You will then need to reexport your gerbers and load them back into gerbview. Altium designer lets you easily adjust settings on your pcb. The rules allow a definition of mask expansion, or contraction, with respect to each pad and via site.
Solder mask in altium 1 solder mask definition for a via 2. Solder mask expansion can be defined for pads and vias on an individual basis, in the associated properties dialog. Coverlay insulates the outer surface conductors and protects from corrosion and damage, in the same way solder mask does on the rigid board. For smaller width, call your salesperson for pricing and turntime. New productivity features to take advantage of in altium. This has necessitated a new approach not only in the technology of the solder mask but also in their application and processing. Solder mask is an outer layer of pcbs that provide a solder resist coating that.
Hi i have a bga device and need to know what the solmask expansion should be set for the fanout vias. Solder mask expansion online documentation for altium. Removing excess solder mask and solder paste added. Technical tips for pcbs copper thickness, controlled. Not all possible pcb design features are available on all our services. Jul 04, 2018 1 download the desired altium file from snapeda. Negative solder mask expansion exists when the solder mask covers a portion of. Get even more precision with your solder mask expansions with userdefinable expansion options from hole edge or pad edge. For pads defined with copper layers, the solder mask and solder paste clearance calculations remain the same. I have heard that the vias should be capped with solder mask to prevent solder flowing into them. The typical solder mask thickness perpendicular to the board is at least 0. Today we have a software namely altium to introduce to you. Solder mask will be thinner near the edges of traces and can reach as thin as 0.
Pcb rules and constraints editor online documentation. To increase the flexibility of how solder mask expansions can be applied in altium designer, a new solder mask from the hole edge option has been added to the configuration properties for pads and vias. Select force complete tenting on top bottom ad16 or select specify expansion values value. Advanced circuits will modify files to meet the minimum dimension. Where the traces of water vapor or gas entrained therein in a different process, when faced with high temperature welding, gas expansion led to stratification and pcb solder mask substrate, welding, pad temperature is relatively high, so the bubble first appeared in the land around it. Discover features you didnt know existed and get the most out of those you already know about. To match the legacy behavior of the old silkscreen over component pads rule, found in releases of the software prior to altium designer. With the solder mask layer enabled you will be able add shapes to the layer and exclude the mask from specific areas such as under thermal tabs. The new installer can be downloaded from the altium download page. These guidelines set out best practice to reduce the cost of your boards and to minimize the risk of errors arising during manufacture.
The paste mask expansion can be defined for pads on an individual basis, in the associated properties dialog. Solder mask is also used to prevent solder starvation. Apply a solder resist mask to pcbs printed circuit boards. In two steps you are in the pcb design rules reference that incorporates masking and manufacturing rules for your solder mask. Jan 17, 2010 based on conversations ive had with some fabricators, i would reccommend that the default soldermask opening should be 6 mils 0. Mask this category offers the following rule types. Begin designing with the manufacturing process in mind. Pcb rules and constraints editor online documentation for. If the distance of pin is too small, it will be recommended to cancel the solder mask bridge and take advantage of solder mask opening technology. So for example, a 5mil solder mask expansion applied to a 60mil diameter round pad will create a mask opening of 70mil. The solder mask is automatically generated for gerber production, but you can add it is a layer for editing within designspark pcb.
The solder expansion for an individual padvia is specified through the viapad dialog the solder mask expansions settings, normally configured to adopt the expansion set from rules, needs to be set to specify expansion value to define specific values for that via or pad. This opening can be larger a positive expansion value or smaller a negative expansion value than the via itself as defined by the solder mask expansion setting. Download our design for excellence approved validated stackups and design rule checks drc. This rule checks the clearance between any silkscreen primitive and any solder mask primitive, or exposed copperlayer primitive. The oil between two pins of component is solder mask bridge, generally refers to intensive ic pin check the below picture. Here, the settings will default to matched values for the top and bottom layers until unlinked with the. This is done automatically during the design rule check of your production data your advantage through block exemption. Solder mask is usually green but can also be applied as. I am going to name solder mask the obtacle you draw in orcad. If the solder mask completely covers most or all of the pad, the smt part will be completely disconnected from that pad. Ensuring that there is a minimum width of solder mask across the board, this rule checks the distance between any two solder mask openings that are equal to or greater than the userspecified value. Based on conversations ive had with some fabricators, i would reccommend that the default soldermask opening should be 6 mils 0.
The shape that is created on the paste mask layer at each pad site is the pad shape, expanded or contracted radially by the amount specified. Open vias near your surface mount pads such as with bgas, can wick solder away from the pad and down the open via resulting in intermittent or no connection. Nov 20, 20 altium designer silk to solder mask clearance design rule. On some specific features we highlight the availability in a particular service. For pads defined with no copper layers referred to as aperture pads, the inherited clearance and ratio settings are no longer applied and the. Finger pads layout the solder mask defined thermal pad is the exposed copper area not covered by solder mask.
Solder starvation can occur for many reasons but mask can prevent solder from wicking away from its intended location. The solder mask is first printed or sprayed on to the production panel and then uvexposed with the correct solder mask pattern, developed and dried. White printed circuit board solder mask applications are becoming slightly more common because they can make a pcb look especially pretty in a clean environment. Updating from within altium 14 and earlier versions is not possible, but you have the choice to have altium 15. Altium how to set and use layer type very useful in. Drc and stackup downloads welcome to the stackup and drc page. What is the relationship between hole and solder mask blogs. Zero solder mask expansion involves no space or gap between where the pad ends and the solder mask starts. Mar 05, 2019 a feature which helps you to define pcb layers based on how they are used instead of assigning them to a specific mechanical layer.
Solder mask expansion can be defined for pads and vias on an individual basis in the associated properties dialog. When importing footprints downloaded from snapeda into altium, the. Information on the use of solder mask is contained in ipcsm840c qualification and performance of permanent solder mask. Options are available to follow the expansion defined in the applicable design rule, to override the rule and apply a specified expansion directly to the individual object in. Power plane connect style, power plane clearance, and polygon connect style. As mentioned previously, this is handled automatically when opening older. Positive solder mask expansion means there exists a distance between the pad outer perimeter and the end of the solder mask around it that is uncovered. Pcb solder mask design basics standards, materials and. Fixed bug where solder mask expansion is absent for vias on fab view bc. To increase the flexibility of how solder mask expansions can be applied in altium designer, a new solder mask from the hole edge option has been added to the configuration properties for pads pad dialog and vias via dialog. This release sees the arrival of a new silk to solder mask clearance design rule, with new checking modes to exposed copper, or to solder mask openings. Options are available to follow the expansion defined in the applicable design rule or to override the rule and apply a specified expansion directly to. Choosing the right solder mask clearance for your pcb tempo.
An opening in the solder mask is automatically created by the software and is the same shape as the via. It must be soldered directly to the thermal pad on the bottom of the ic. What is solder mask bridge and solder mask opening on a. In kicads pcbnew, open the zopt220x breakout and click on dimensions pads mask clearance. Fixed bug where only the pad that is inside the custom pad generates solder maskpaste mask. Does anyone know how to create an area on pcb that will not be covered with solder mask. However, realworld applications can be more difficult because the white solder mask hides traces very well. Options are available to follow the expansion defined in the applicable design rule, or to override the rule and apply a specified expansion directly to the individual pad in question.
Options are available to follow the expansion defined in the applicable design rule or to override the rule and apply a specified expansion directly to the individual pad or via in question. Suppose you do not want paint on the whole bottom layer rf board a must, you want only finished metal exposed. If you dont know what it does and how you could benefit from it to produce circuit boards, here is a simple guide. If your solder mask expansion is too small, then these misalignments cause the solder mask to partially or completely overlap smt pads and throughhole pads.