What is PCB Fabrication?

PCB Fabrication is a series of electrochemical processes for creating circuit patterns on copper through additive and subtractive methods. It is the process of building or assembling the raw board that lays the foundation for the final PCB Assembly.

What are the desirable attributes to look for in a fabrication vendor?

Go for a contract manufacturer that holds ISO 9001 certification and who has demonstrable experience and proficiency with various fabrication technologies. You can see if they can deliver consistently high-quality services and meet the expected specifications and tolerances.

Why should I choose Mer-Mar Electronics for PCB fabrication?

Mer-Mar Electronics is a USA-based fabrication and is an ITAR-compliant manufacturer. We have full in-house capabilities and specialized in quick-turn, high-quality PCB fabrication services. We offer quick and on-time delivery at competitive prices. We assure you of guaranteed quality satisfaction by following a client-centric approach. There is no minimum order requirement as well.

What files should we provide to avail PCB Fabrication Services?

You need to provide the following files for PCB fabrication - PCB Gerber File Format - The Gerber file format is the defacto standard for PCB fabrication. This standard file is used to describe the PCB layers like solder masks, copper layers, etc. You can go for either .zip or .rar when you upload your designs. - Drill File in Excellon format. Non-plated drills either in board outline or in the second drill file that has text NPTH in the filename. - Board Outline File - For routing the board edges, it has only the outline of the board including any inner cut-outs.

What is the expected cost of your PCB fabrication services?

The overall cost depends on the complexity of the device. The number of materials used, the manual labor work hours, required efforts, and the fabrication time is all taken into consideration for the overall cost calculation.

What is your standard turnaround time for PCB fabrication service?

The turnaround time usually depends on the production quantity. Another factor that needs to be considered is the ready availability of the raw materials.

What can I do if the product doesn’t meet the requirements?

You can immediately contact our support team with the details of the defective parts and any other issues or errors you noticed.

What does a standard and quality PCB fabrication service entail?

A standard and quality PCB fabrication service will have a good finishing, the copper shouldn’t be seen, and no scratches should be seen on the board.

How do you ensure your PCB resistance to the tough external environmental conditions?

We go for conformal coating applied by dipping and spraying once the components are soldered. This ensures your PCB withstands extreme environmental conditions. This coating helps prevent corrosion or leakage currents. We usually go for modern conformal coats like silicone rubber, acrylic, epoxy, etc.

What are the materials you use for PCB surface finish?

We go for immersion tin line, solder mask over bare copper, fused tin, nickel, immersion gold, etc.

PCB Fabrication – PCB Fabrication Services

Leading the way for over 40 years

PCB Fabrication

Mer-Mar Electronics is a California PCB fabrication company that has over 4 decades of experience in providing PCB fabrication services throughout the United States (USA). We incorporate innovative and cutting-edge technologies to provide PCB fabrication services for our clients.

Our team of experts delivers high-end technological PCB fab services for meeting the requirements of any electronic production lifecycle. We serve multi-layer PCB, Rigid PCB, Flex PCB, Rigid-flex PCB, Thin/Ultra-Thin PCB, High-frequency PCB, and more by utilizing industry-leading procedures and facilities. Whether you require small to large production, Mer-Mar Electronics excels in delivering consistent quality, on-time, and on-budget custom PCB Fabrication services in the USA.

We have the most driven and erudite team for PCB fab to ensure that you get the quality products you need. We also put through a thorough quality check before we ship them out from our company to our clients to ensure they are of top-notch quality. This garnered us the fantastic reputation we have in the market as a go-place for PCB fabrication services.

Why choose our PCB fabrication services?

1. Quality Control

Be it ISO 9001:2015 or ISO 13458:2016 quality management systems, we make sure to provide our customers the highest quality circuit board fabrication. Our multifaceted experts render the best quality PCB services right from layout to shipping

2. Quick Turnaround Time

We provide quick-turn pre-production PCB fabrication and multi-layer fabrication with high-count and dense multilayered PCB services at a faster time-to-market. We have built a very responsive culture to ship larger fabrication of PCB numbers in a short period of time.

3. Safety

Safety and security are primary prerequisites of our printed circuit board fabrication and hence we carry out all the fabrication solutions, assembly processes as per the best industry standards, rules, and guidelines.

4. Top-notch Customer Retention

A full-fledged PCB fabrication right from the product layout, manufacturing, warehousing, and shipping have not just garnered us a global customer base but also an incredible customer retention rate.

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Our PCB Fabrication Services

As a leading PCB fabricator, we are specialized in rigid, flex, rigid-flex, multilayer PCBs, and many more other fabrication services.

Custom PCB Fabrication

Among many PCB fabrication companies, Mer-Mar Electronics provides a comprehensive range of options that gives endless possibilities for creating custom PCB. The custom PCB fabrication services are depending on the specific board size, solder mask options, number of layers, weight, and more. We have been manufacturing custom PCB prototypes, PCB production quantity, and batched PCBs for all kinds of industrial applications and projects.

Rigid PCB Fabrication

We also offer reliable Rigid PCBs with a quick turnaround time. Get low-volume or high-volume rigid PCBs including single-sided rigid PCBs, double-sided rigid PCBs, multi-layer PCBs, and more. You can be assured of high-quality and high-performance oriented rigid Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) for diverse industrial applications in aerospace, telecommunication, instrumentation, and other industries.

Flex PCB Fabrication

Flexible PCBs are fabricated on the flexible base material for a large range of shapes. You can have the flexibility to increase design, reliability, and durability. With extensive experience, we have built a network for providing flex PCB services and provide you a competitive edge in the PCB industry.

Rigid-flex PCB Fabrication

Our rigid-flex PCBs come with unique capabilities as they are integrated using the design of both flex and rigid substrates. Strength, speed, responsiveness, and dynamic adaptability are the cornerstones of our rigid-flex PCBs. You can have endless opportunities when it comes to its design, features, and functionalities.

Metal Core Circuit Boards

We offer sophisticated metal core circuit boards with highly efficient heat-dissipating mechanisms. Besides, we also provide efficient cooling components and ensure better overall performance of all the circuit components. We are experts in both aluminum and copper metal core circuit boards used in various electronics industries. While ensuring the highest quality at affordable prices, we ensure your components are not affected by extreme temperatures.

Mil Spec PCBs (Military Grade PCB)

We are proud to offer the most reliable and reputable Mil Spec Printed circuit boards in the US. Our military-grade board technologies include rigid, flex, and rigid-flex PCBs at quick-turn prototyping and production numbers. We have a proven track record with PCB prototypes and military PCB production using standard and advanced technologies. We also build Mil Spec boards as per the industry certification standards.

Multilayer Circuit Board Fabrication

We have been producing multilayer PCBs for various industries and have solved many problems that are associated with multilayer PCBs. We have the capabilities to manufacture 1 to 40 layered printed circuit boards at the standard turnaround time depending on the complexity and quantity of the boards required. We have specialized equipment and a significant commitment to engineering multilayer boards.

High Frequency PCB Manufacturing

At Mer-Mar Electronics, we are known to be at the forefront of adopting the latest technologies and offering the most cutting-edge PCBs. Little surprise then that High Frequency PCBs are an important aspect of our portfolio. With our state-of-the-art equipment and expert team, you can rest assured that we are well-poised to meet the evolving requirements of our consumers.

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PCB Fabrication Capabilities

	Supported Capabilities
PCB Fabrication Methods	Etching, Manual, Photographic, Direct Etch, Silkscreen
PCB Fabrication Option	PTH, SMT, Mixed Technology PCB Assembly, Via-IN-Pad Technology, Blind and Buried Via, Lead-free (RoHS)
Types of PCB Fabrication	Multi-layer, Flex, and Rigid-Flex, RF PCB fabrication
PCB Fabrication Material	Laminate Material, RoHS Material, Metal Core Materials
Board Type	Rigid, Flex, Rigid-flex, Multilayer
Solder Mask	Green/Green, Matte White, Black/Black, Matte Clear, Blue Top, Bottom Mix, Red, Mix Both Sides
Surface Finishes	Silver, Lead Solder Tin, Lead Solder Nickel, Electroless Nickel, Immersion Silver and Tin, ENEPIG PCB Finish, Carbon, Selective Gold Plating, Direct Immersion Gold Finish
Others	Same Day and 100% On-time, 100% On-time PCB Fabrication, Controlled Impedance, Quick Turn Times

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PCB Fabrication Technologies

We offer a wide range of fabrication techniques that can help you identify which is best suitable for designing your boards.

1. Imaging

We unravel the magic of transferring your digital PCB design onto the physical board. While many companies go for producing a dry film by inkjet printing the negative of the PCB design and coating the copper board surface with liquid photoresist before subjected to UV light. We can also speed up the process by relying on more expensive equipment to directly apply the pattern to copper coated with photoresist via a UV laser instead of going for the dry film.

2. Etching

To remove the excess metal from a PCB, we use various industrial solvents like cupric chloride, ferric chloride, alkaline ammonia, and ammonium persulfate. We focus on establishing a smooth and uniform surface.

3. Lamination

We offer single-layer laminate, double-sided laminate, and multi-layer laminates. We are aware of the things that can potentially go wrong during the lamination process and are always geared up to modify the designs accordingly. We run a few prototypes runs and depending on the response, we will go for scaling.

4. Machining

Based on your design, we run machining multiple times throughout the process. We are skilled in through-holes and vias as well as penalization. We for a good quality tungsten carbide for drilling. For smaller vias, it is also possible to go for a laser.

5. Silkscreen in PCB

As the PCB passes onto the coating and surface finishes, we reserve silkscreen printing for the largest PCB manufacturers. We use etch-resistant inks for protecting the copper foil and put vital information like names, numbers, symbols, parts information, and other elements onto the board.

6. Plating

Whether you need electrolytic plating or electroless or plasma/dry plating, we get your metal finish the right way.

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PCB Fabrication Testing Capabilities

We conduct a bare-boards test where each circuit connection is verified on the finished board. If you have gone for high-volume production or fabrication, make sure the contact with copper holes on one or both sides of the board are available for testing. Through computer-based testing, we conduct electrical testing for sending a small amount of electrical current through each test point If you have small or medium volume PCBs, we recommend flying probe testers for verifying the electrical connectivity of the board. We ensure high-quality PCBs, solder masks over bare copper, hot air solder leveling finish along with Flying Probe Testing.

By conducting electrical testing, we make sure the functionality is working as expected. We perform circuit continuity and isolation tests. We also go for basic electrical reliability testing for checking the integrity of the circuits and to make sure that there are no short circuits on the finished boards.

We also provide boards built to Mil Spec certification standards like MIL-PRF-55110, MIL-PRF-50884, and MIL-PRF-31032. We deploy AI-based quality assurance through AI-driven visual inspection for performing the quality analysis and identify patterns with every test cycle.

We also provide a series of meticulous verification methods for ensuring optimum performance and quality of assembled boards like

PCB Electrical Testing
Automated Optical Inspection (AOI)
In-circuit Testing (ICT)
Functional Testing
Multi-stage Visual Inspection
X-Ray Inspection
Fly-probe Testing

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Multi-industrial Applications of Our PCB Fabrication Services

Mer-Mar Electronics offers high-quality PCB fabrication solutions for various applications like mobile phones, airplanes, unmanned vehicles, and more. There has been an upward trend in our PCB fabrication services being used by a wide range of applications in industries across verticals.

Aerospace
Automobile
Computers
Consumer Electronics
Industrial
Instrumentation
Medical
Military
Bio-Medical
Telecommunications

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Certifications

ISO 9001:2015 certified
UL Certified
IPC-A-6011/6012
IPC-A-6000
ISO 13458:2016

PCB Fabrication FAQs

Are you looking for bare board fabrication, circuit board fab, PCB fabrication services for your Next project? Send us inquiry to Get a Quick PCB Fabrication Quote based on your custom requirements.

If you have any queries regarding to our PCB fabrication services or need an urgent assistance, then please don’t hesitate to contact our team of skilled personnel’s. Send us an email with your queries at sales@mermarinc.com or call us at (760) 244-6149. We are looking forward to hearing from you!