Electronic Glossary

1. The pattern and space on a board taken up by a component. 2. Decal.

What’s Forward Bias in PN Junction Diodes?   Forward Bias, or Forward Biasing, is applying potential difference across a p-n diode with a standard polarity, where the anode is connected to the p-region and the cathode is connected to the …

A Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is an integrated circuit that has its internal logic circuits programmed by the customer or designer. The Boolean logic circuits are left “unwired” in an FPGA, and they are either permanently programmed one time or …

FR-4 (or FR4) is a NEMA grade designation for glass-reinforced epoxy laminate material. FR-4 is a composite material composed of woven fiberglass cloth with an epoxy resin binder that is flame resistant (self-extinguishing). “FR” stands for flame retardant, and does …

What’s FR-5 Laminate in PCB?   FR-5 (or FR5) is a glass fabric reinforcement in a high temperature epoxy resin binder in PCB base materials, like CCL. FR5 is a fire-retardant grade of G11. The natural color of FR5 laminate is …

FR-6 is a kind of PCB base materials made of matte glass and polyester (PET), but which has not commonly applied in PCB manufacturing.

What’s Frequency?   Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. It is also occasionally referred to as temporal frequency to emphasize the contrast to spatial frequency, and ordinary frequency to emphasize the contrast …

Frequency Modulation (FM) is the encoding of information in a carrier wave by varying the instantaneous frequency of the wave. The technology is used in telecommunications, radio broadcasting, signal processing, and computing. Also see Frequency. Varying the frequency of the …

What is a Full Wave Rectifier?   A Full Wave Rectifier is defined as a type of rectifier that converts both halves of each cycle of an alternating wave (AC signal) into a pulsating DC signal. Full-wave rectifiers are used …

What is a Function Generator?   A Function Generator, Waveform Generator is usually a piece of electronic test equipment or software used to generate different types of electrical waveforms over a wide range of frequencies. Some of the most common waveforms …