Circuit Board

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What Does Circuit Board Mean?

A circuit board is a physical piece of technology that allows for the assembly of electrical or data circuits on a horizontal layer of material. Advances in circuit boards have led to new engineering and manufacturing methods for these types of devices.

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Techopedia Explains Circuit Board

Prior to the emergence of the printed circuit board (PCB), engineers often used point-to-point construction to create these hardware pieces. However, beginning in the early 1900s, printed circuit boards became the norm. In printed circuit board design, manufacturers use a variety of methods, including milling, to manipulate copper and other material layers to create sophisticated circuits on a circuit board. Chemical etching and manipulating material layers with precise laser technologies are other ways in which modern circuit boards are designed.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.