Electronic Glossary

A Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT) (discrete component)is a type of transistor that uses both electrons and electron holes as charge carriers. In contrast, a unipolar transistor, such as a field-effect transistor, uses only one kind of charge carrier. A bipolar …

Beam Lead (BL) is a bare silicon chip, an early chip-scale package (CSP). Beam lead technology is a method of fabricating a semiconductor device. Its original application was high-frequency silicon switching transistors and high-speed integrated circuits. It eliminated the labor-intensive …

Black Pad: When it can be happen on PCBs Black pad can happen on PCBs that have an Immersion Gold Finish (ENIG). It is a condition where a surface mount component soldered to a PCB loses connection. The nickel under …

Blister is a localized swelling and separation between any of the layers of a laminate base material, or between base material and conductive copper foil or protective coating, like coverlay in flex circuits. It is a form of delamination. But …

What’s Bluetooth?   Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between devices over short distances using UHF radio waves in the ISM bands, from 2.402GHz to 2.48GHz, and building personal area networks (PANs). It …

In PCB industry, printed circuit board can be written and interpreted as printed circuit, printed board, circuit board, PCB board, or as simple as PC Board. Also, a CAD database which represents the layout of a printed circuit (PC).

A manufacturer of printed circuit boards. Also, Board Vendor.

Usually referring to the final thickness of the printed circuit board. This would include the fiberglass, soldermask and silkscreen and the surface finish. The most commonly used thickness is 0.062″ (1.6mm) but many options are available.

Board Vendor can be printed circuit board manufacturer, supplier and provider.

Body Gold indicates that the full body of the PCB is plated gold. This may occur during either electro plating or immersion depending on the design. Refer to Hard Gold and Soft Gold in our Surface Finish page.