Glossary of Industry Terms
A comprehensive list of key technical terms and definitions.
Active Components: This term refers to a type of component that is dependent on the flow direction of an electrical current. For example, a transistor, rectifier or valve would be considered active.
ALIVH: Short for any layer inner via hole, this is a type of technology used to build multi-layer BUM PCBs. This method uses a solder to create an electrical connection between PCB layers. ALIVH often replaces traditional vias and is a useful production method for creating high-density BUM PCBs.
Analog Circuit: It refers to circuits processing analog signals (continuous and variable signal). The output is non-binary within this type of circuit.
Annular Ring: This term refers to the copper pad area that is left after a hole is drilled through it. This ring is measured from the edge of the pad to the edge of the hole and is an important consideration in PCB design, as it allows an electrical connection to be made from one side of the hole to the other.
Anti-Solder Ball: This type of technology is commonly applied in SMT production lines with the goal of limiting the amount of tin involved in the stencil process. This is done by making a stencil on the board and creating openings at places where the solder ball tends to be produced so that the tin paste will flow to the openings.
AOI: Short for automated optical inspection, AOI refers to a type of inspection method used to find potential problems concerning soldering performance in multi-layer PCBs with components mounted on. The AOI equipment finds these issues by capturing images of the inner PCB surfaces, looking for any possible issues in terms of displacement, polarity etc.
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