Printed Circuit Techniques PDF

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387 05
UNC
cop . I
Printed Circuit
134
Techniques
National Bureau of Standards Circular
LI
468
THE BRARY OF THE
DEC 1v 1947
UNIVEŠili UT ILLUAS
COMM
ERCE
OF
LAV W
NE
UNIADO
Volg*t
TED
STATESOF
United States Department of Commerce

National Bureau of Standards
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA
30112 106923573
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE W. Averell Harriman, Secretary
NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS • E. C, Condon , Director
Printed Circuit
Techniques
by Cledo Brunetti and Roger W. Curtis
COM
NEM K
MER
LU
or
CE
VAD
O
A
IC
UNI
ER
TED STAT
☆
AM
S
OF
National Bureau of Standards Circular 468

Issued November 15 , 1947
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C.
Price 25 cents
Preface
Printed circuits have emerged from purely laboratory experiments to

become one of the most practical new ideas of mass production of electronic
devices in several decades. Although many of the techniques employed in the
practice were known and used long ago , printed circuits as we understand them
today represent a comparatively recent accomplishment. Interest in printed
circuits has increased steadily since February 1946, when the Army Ordnance
Department approved the release of the development of the stencilled-screen
process, which had played an important part in the design of the miniature radio
proximity fuze for the trench mortar shell. Printed electronic subassemblies
have been manufactured in large quantities, and coincident with going to press,
it is learned that the first commercial electronic set to be manufactured by the
printed process, a hearing aid, has now been placed on the market.
Over the past two years, the National Bureau of Standards has received an
unprecedented demand for technical information on the subject from other
Government agencies, from industry, and scientific institutions. This Circular
outlines the practical details of the art and represents the first general treatise
on the subject. To cover completely all the information on the various proc
esses, applications, and other matters related to printed circuits is beyond the
scope of the Circular. The main methods have been treated in detail , and
others have simply been introduced to stimulate further experimentation by
other laboratories and industry. A bibliography is included as an important
supplement. The study was carried out in collaboration with scientific and
industrial organizations, whose valuable contributions are acknowledged.
E. U. Condon, Director.
217.5
FIruithe
70.468.481
Contents
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Preface
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I. Introduction . 1
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3. Application of conductor paints. 9
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5. Capacitors 16
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9. Plating 20
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10. External connections
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III. Spraying - 21
1. Metal and paint spraying--- 21
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2. Spraying -milling technique . 23
3. Electrostatic spraying - 23
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V. Vacuum Processes 24
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2. Evaporation
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3. Resistors . 26
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2. Resistors . 29
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5. Printed assemblies 33
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IX. Applications - 34
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1. Amplifiers and subassemblies 34

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2. Transmitters and receivers 37

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4. Metallizing in electronics 40
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X. Conclusion . 42
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XI . References . 42
III
389.05
/73 snette
UNC
2,468-481
Printed Circuit Techniques
khe
By Cledo Brunetti and Roger W. Curtis

5
Abstract
A comprehensive treatment of the complete field of printed circuits is presented.

Circuits are defined as being " printed ” when they are produced on an insulated surface by
any process. The methods of printing circuits fall in six main classifications : Painting
Conductor and resistor paints are applied separately by means of a brush or a stencil bear
ing the electronic pattern . After drying, tiny capacitors and subminiature tubes are added
to complete the unit. Spraying - Molten metal or paint is sprayed on to form the circuit
conductors. Resistance paints may also be sprayed. Included in this classification are an
abrasive spraying process and a die-casting method. Chemical deposition — Chemical solu
tions are poured onto a surface originally covered with a stencil. A thin metallic film is
precipitated on the surface in the form of the desired electronic circuit. For conductors the
film is electroplated to increase its conductance. Vacuum processes — Metallic conductors
and resistors are distilled onto the surface through a suitable stencil. Die -stamping
Conductors are punched out of metal foil by either hot or cold dies and attached to an insu
lated panel. Resistors may also be stamped out of a specially coated plastic film .
Dusting — Conducting powders are dusted onto a surface through a stencil and fired .
Powders are held on either with a binder or by an electrostatic method.
Methods employed up to the present have been painting, spraying, and die -stamping.
Principal advantages of printed circuits are uniformity of production and the reduction of
size, assembly and inspection time and cost, line rejects, and purchasing and stocking
problems. Production details as well as precautions and limitations are discussed. Many
applications and examples are presented including printed amplifiers, transmitters, receivers,
hearing aid subassemblies, plug-in units, and electronic accessories.
I. Introduction
Printed electronic circuits are no longer in the Other printing processes, such as spraying and
experimental stage. Introduced into mass pro- stamping, have reached the production lines, and
duction early in 1945 in the tiny radio proximity today we find many manufacturers in mass pro
fuze for mortar shells developed by the National duction ofwhole radio sets or subassemblies byone
Bureau of Standards, printed circuits are now the or other of the printed circuit techniques .
subject of intense interest of manufacturers and Manufacturers are producing thousands of
research laboratories in this country and abroad. special printed electronic circuits per day. Many
From February to June 1947, the Bureau received of these are resistor-capacitor units such as filters
over 100 inquiries from manufacturers seeking to and interstage coupling circuits. One unit is
apply printed circuits or printed circuit techniques shown in figure 4. It is made by the stencilled
to the production of electronic items. Proposed screen process and designed with various combina
applications include radios, hearing aids, tele- tions of resistors and capacitors so as to provide
vision sets, electronic measuring and control equip- coupling circuits useful in most applications.
ment, personal radiotelephones, radar, and count- The portion of the circuit that has been printed is
less other devices. shown within the dotted rectangle of figure 4. This
The first mass production of complete printed unit also serves as a single stage amplifier simply
circuits as they are known today, was set up at the by wiring to aa triode. This arrangement is shown
plant of Globe-Union, Incorporated, at Milwau- at the left in figure 5. A London concern has
kee, Wis., and a subsidiary plant at Lowell, Mass. designed and is now using an automatic equipment
Facilities were provided for daily production of that starts with a molded plastic plate and turns
over 5,000 printed electronic subassemblies for the out a completely wired (printed) radio panel in
mortar fuze shown in figure 1. The plate, on 20 seconds. Other manufacturers are employing
which a complex electronic circuit was printed was spraying procedures using scotch -tape stencilsand
made of thin steatite 134 in . long and 114 in. wide. metal-spraying equipment . Another large pro
The circuit was produced by the stencilled -screen ducer of electronic items stamps the electronic cir
process[ 1] pioneered by the Centralab Division of cuit out of 0.005-in. sheet copper .
Globe -Union. Figure 2 shows a two - stage ampli- The principal physical effect of printing circuits
fier printed on a thin , ceramic plate alongside a is to reduce electronic circuit wiring essentially to
similar amplifier constructed according to present two dimensions. The effect is enhanced where it
day standard production methods. The reverse is possible to employ subminiature tubes and com
sides of the units are seen in figure 3. pact associated components. A properly de
Printed Circuit Techniques 1
had . The development of truly diminutive elec
tronic devices now awaits only the availability of
smaller microphones, transformers, speakers, bat
teries, etc.
Although size reduction is the factor that has
attracted the most attention, there are other equal
or more important advantages to be gained from
the use of the techniques. Uniformity of produc
100
-A tion, reduction of assembly and inspection time and
costs, and reduction of line rejects make the proc
esses attractive, even in applications where size is
not important. Purchasing and stocking of elec
tronic components and accessories are reduced con
siderably as many items are eliminated and others
-B such as the wide variety of resistors usually carried
are replaced by a few types of paints. Obsolescence
of components is also avoided in great part.
In present assembly-line practices , wiring rep
resents one of the larger items of production cost.
Wires must be cut to length, bent into shape,
twisted together or around soldering lugs, and in
dividually soldered or connected. As there are
over 100 soldering operations in even the small
radio sets, the cost of labor and materials for sol
dering alone represents an important item. In a
television set the number of soldering operations
is nearer 500. The new wiring processes eliminate
as much as 60 percent of the soldering needed for
0 " 1
6
conventional circuits. A single operatoron a pro
FIGURE 1, Cutaway model of a simulated radio procimity
duction line may turn out thousands of plates each
day.
fuze for mortar shell showing an electronic control cir
cuit on steatite block B, and the remainder of the circuit Certain types of electronic circuits adapt them
painted on steatic plate A. selves better to the printing technique than others.
Standard amplifier circuits are readily printed
signed printed circuit offers size reduction as are T-pads and similar attenuating circuits
comparable to the best of standard miniature elec and in general, any electronic configuration that
tronics practice and in certain cases affords a does not have included within it large transform
degree of miniaturization unobtainable by other ers and similar unusually bulky items. Even in
means. Just how much space saving may be this case, the printed wiring may be arranged with
realized depends on the application . Standard useful eyelets or sockets towhich the larger com
electronic components are now available in such ponents are attached in the same manner as the
miniature size that complete amplifiers may be tubes .
built into volumes of less than 1 in .; using stand Because of the early experience on printed cir
ard methods. This is exemplified in modern cuits acquired by the National Bureau of Stand
hearing aid designs. The greater part of the ards during and subsequent to its wartime pro
volume of aa hearing aid, for example, is occupied gram of radio proximity fuze design and the de
by the microphone, transformers, batteries, ear mands of other Government agencies and industry
phones, etc. The actual wiring occupies a small for more information on the subject, a comprehen
fraction of the total volume, hence even if the sive study of printed circuit techniques was under
wiring were eliminated completely, it would not taken. This study revealed a large number of
represent a substantial further reduction in the methods for condensing the size of electronic as
total volume of the unit. In the printed electronic semblies, for mechanization of chassis wiring and
circuit, a large part of the volume is occupied by reducing electronic wiring essentially to two di
the base material.. By providing thinner base mensions. Although it would be beyond the scope
materials,' or better by applying the wiring to an of any single paperto attempt to cover thoroughly
insulated outer or inner surface already present in all the possible methods and processes, an effort
the assembly such as, for example, the tubes them has been made to present a reasonably complete
selves or part of the plastic cabinet, a significant treatment of the more important ones. They fall
reduction in volume occupied by the wiring may be in six main classifications : painting, spraying,
chemical deposition, vacuum processes, die-stamp
1 Ceramic plates 0.01 in . thick have been produced by mass ing and dusting. Some of the processes are new,
production technics .
2 Circulars of the National Bureau of Standards

FIGURE 2. Comparison of two -stage voltage amplifier printed on ceramic plate ( right) with equivalent amplifier con
structed according to present day radio practice ( left ) .
some have been used for years, others have not been rectly on the surfaces through stencils to form the
applied to production of electronic circuits but are conductors and to fasten in place resistors, capaci
included because they point the way to new tech tors, and other electronic components that have
niques. previously been placed in depressions on the sur
All are methods of reproducing a circuit design face. Resistance paints may also be sprayed.
upon a surface and as such fall under the general
2
Chemical spraying is possible using a spray gun
classification of printing 2 processes. Electronic with two openings, one ejecting silvering material
circuits producedby any of these methods will be and the other a reducing liquid. In another
called printed electronic circuits. The processes method, a metallic film on an insulated surface is
differ3 mainly in the manner in which the conduc subjected to an abrasive blast through a stencil
tors 3 are produced. Resistors and capacitors are
applied by methods that in general may be used in
terchangeably with any of the processes .
Painting. Metallic paints for conductors, induc
tors and shields are made by mixing a metal
powder with a liquid binder to hold the particles
together and a solvent to control the viscosity.
Resistance paints are made in somewhat the same
manner, using carbon or metallic powders. The
circuit is painted on the surface by brush or sten
cil. It is fired at elevated temperatures. Tiny
dood
capacitors and subminiature tubes are added to

complete the electronic unit.
Spraying. Molten metal or paint is sprayed
onto an insulating surface with a spray gun. In
some processes, metals in the form of wire,powder
or solutions are supplied to the gun and sprayed di
2 Printing is defined in the dictionary as " the act of repro
ducing a design upon a surface by any process.”
3 The term " conductors" herein is used to denote the leads or FIGURE 3. View of bottom sides of the printed and con
that part of the circuit wiring which connects the electronic
components such as the resistors, inductors, etc. ventional units of figure 2 .
3
FRONT BACK DUREZ COATED
Hi
be
FIGURE 4. Printed interstage coupling unit, made by

stencilled-screen process. SINGLE STAGE
AMPLIFIERS
bearing the circuit pattern . Included in this clas
sification is the die-casting method . A special b
0 "
low -melting point alloy is cast directly into
grooves in the insulating surface. Expansion on FIGURE 5. Single - stage amplifiers printed on steatite
cooling holds the metal in place. plates by stemcilled-screen process.
Chemical deposition . A metallic solution, such as
silver for example, is prepared by adding am In this country considerable interest is being
monium hydroxide to a solution of silver nitrate. displayed in the painting, spraying, and die
A reducing agent is used toprecipitate metallic sil stamping methods. A good deal of experience has
ver on the insulating surface. A stencil is em been accumulated and practical methods of opera
ployed to define the circuit. Thin films are formed tion adaptable to mass production worked out.
that may serve asresistors orconductors. Electro Review of progress in foreign countries also re
plating is used to increase the conductance of the veals development and usuage of some of the
part ofthe wiring serving as the conductors.
Vacuum processes. The coating metal is made methods, particularly in England and Germany.
up in the form of aa cathode or placed in aа container The literature is replete with methods of deposit
in an evacuated chamber opposite the plate on ing metals on nonmetalic materials. A large num
which the pattern is to appear. Raising the metal ber have been patented long ago and the patents
to proper temperature distills it onto the plate expired . Early methods consisted of applying
through a suitable stencil to define the circuit. Re finely divided graphite or metal powders to wax
sistorsas well as conductors are made this way. coatings on the surfaces. The chemical reduction
Die-stamping. Circuit wiring is punched out of methods were probably the first to be used for
metal foil and attached to one or both sides of an producing thin metallic films on nonconducting
insulating panel. A variation is to use a heated surfaces for decorative arts. Some have been used
die with the circuit wiring pattern on its face. for over 100 years. The resulting films were
Pressing the die on a thin sheet of metal foil over usually very thin , and plating was used to increase
a plastic surface prints the complete wiring in a the thickness.
single step. The heat causes the foil to adhere Before entering on a detailed description of in
strongly to the surface. Theprocess is applicable dividual methods it will be of value to consider
to production of inductors and resistors.
Dusting. Metallic powders with or without a some general facts. Not all the components of an
binder are dusted onto a surface in a wiring pattern electronic circuit may be printed. The practice is
and fired . The powder may be held to the surface adaptable to conductors, resistors, capacitors, in
by coating the latter with
an adhesive through a ductors, shields, and antennas. By printing the
circuit defining stencil. The powder adheres to circuit on a base plate of high dielectric constant
the surface in the desired circuit pattern and fuzes one may print the capacitors, wiring, and induc
strongly to it on firing. An electrostatic method tors all in a single operation. The capacitors in
of holding the powder on prior to firing or flash this case may be madeup by silvering equal areas
ing has been developed. The process isadaptable on opposite sides of the plate. This practice is
to making resistors and conductors. Electroplat applicable to uses where high capacity between
ing may be used to increase the conductance where leads and components may be tolerated, such as
necessary . in phase shift networks comprising only resistor
4
Circulars of the National Bureau of Standards
and capacitor elements. It is desirable that the electricalloads and should show a minimum aging
circuits and components adhere strongly to the effect. The complete printed circuit should with
base plate. The wiring should be of low resistance stand fairly severe temperature and humidity ex
and of sufficient size to cary large currents without posures, rough handling, and mechanical abuse.
appreciable heating. The resistors and other The six main classifications of printed circuits
printed components should be stable under rated will now be discussed in detail .
II . Painting
This process is now well adapted to the produc- ver oxide, silver nitrate or organic combinations of
tion of printed circuits. Paints for resistors may silver are generally used. Silver has proven to
be made up as well as conductor paints. It has be a most practicable metal for this purpose. Not
been the subject of considerable attention in the only is it highly conductive, but silver films are
laboratories of the National Bureau of Standards easily produced . Copper or noble metal powders
and in industry. Suitable metallic paints have or salts may also be used effectively. Though
been developed for use on most types of surfaces salts of other metals might be employed, some form
from glass to plastics. In those applications in corrosion products that have such high resistance
which the base material may be raised to elevated as to make them useless. The need for additional
temperatures, the paint may be fired onto the sur- research in this direction is evident.
face with excellent adhesion. For materials such The cost of the silver is usually a small item, in
as plastics which cannot be raised to high tempera- fact the relatively small amount required makes
tures, satisfactory results are obtained although the cost of the actual silver paint no more than
the adhesion of the paints is considerably less than that of copper required for ordinary wiring. One
than is obtained by firing Printing the conduc- ounce of silver is sufficient to paint as many as 125
tors is the easiest part ofthe operation. Printing average twostage amplifier sections. Sheet sil
resistors is a more difficult problem , especially ver, such as that used in the production of Edison
where it is necessary to hold them within close cells, properly ground is an excellent pigment for
tolerances. conductor paints. Flake silver in small particles
The painting of conductors in general follows works very well on most surfaces.
the practice used in pottery manufacture of burn- The pigment for resistors is usually carbon
ing metal oxides containing ceramic fluxes onto black, colloidal graphite, or a “" flake” type of mi
hard insulating surfaces. As is well known, pot- crocrystalline graphite. Carbon black and col
tery is decorated by mixing finely ground metal loidal graphite appear better for screen painting
powders and fluxes with oil and turpentine and and spraying. Flake graphite is used only for
applying the mixture to the surface either by brush brushpainting. Lampblack has been tried, but the
or through a stencil. It is then baked at tempera- more common types available apparently do not
tures of the order of 450 ° to 750 ° C sufficient to have the proper physical properties to produce
melt the flux and reduce the metal oxide . The reasonable values of resistances. One of the theo
metals are used because of the color they impart ries advanced is that the configuration of the pig
to the pottery. Chromium , iron, and cobalt, for ment particles must be such that they overlap or
example, result in green, brown, and blue colors, bridge one another in the finished resistor. İt is
respectively. Unfortunately, the silicates or bo- an empirical fact that the shape and size of the
rates of the various metals except the noble metals pigment particles do play an important part in the
are poor conductors. resultant electrical properties of the circuit.
Although it would appear to be aa brief step from (b) Binder
the pottery methods to those now used in painting
electronic circuits , a considerable amount of re- The binder is the constituent that holds the pig
search has gone into developing paints of suf- ment together so that it may be painted on the
ficiently high conductance and adhesion that may surface , and also serves to bind thepigment to the
be applied in a practicable way. plate. A resin isused that can beeasily dissolved.
1. Paints Satisfactory synthetic resins are the phenolics dis
solved in acetone or silicones dissolved in chlorin
A. Constituents ated hydrocarbons. Although essential oils such
as lavender oil are recommended as suitable bind
Paints for printed circuits are made up of se
lected combinations of constituents, examples of ers, they are more or less a carry -over from other
which are included in table 1 . metallizing techniques. The essential oils as a
rule are aldehydes which tend to reduce the salt or
(a) Pigment oxide to metal. Vegetable oils like linseed, cot
The pigment is the conducting material for the tonseed, china, soybean, or even castor oil contain
circuit wiring. For the leads, powdered silver, sil- unsaturated acids, which in the process of oxi
TABLE 1. — Composition of paints
Applications
Constituent Function
Conductors Resistors
( Powdered silver .. Carbon black .

Pigment Conducting material . Silver oxide.. Colloidal graphite .
Silver nitrate.. Flake graphite .
Powdered copper .
( Linseed oil ..
Cottonseed oil .
Castor oil .. Phenol-aldehyde resins .
Melamine aldehyde.
Binder .-- Resin .. Vinylite resins.
Holds pigment together and binds it to Lacquer
plate . Silicone resins.
For refractory base plates Styrene resins.
Lead borate. Methacrylate resins.
Lead silicate .
(Ethyl silicate
(Chlorinated solvents . Chlorinated solvents.
Solvent .-- Alcohols .
Dissolves binder if in solid form and ad Aromatics. Alcohols .
Aromatics .
justs viscosity of mixture. Ketones.. Ketones.
(Acetates. Acetates.
Formaldehyde .
Reducing agent Converts metallic salt to pure metal at (Hydrazine sulfate.
low temperature. Hydrazine hydrate .
Filler .. Increases electrical resistance by separat ( Powdered mica .
ing pigment particles. Mineralite .
Asbestos dust iron free) .
¡Phenolic lacquers.
Protective coating Protection against abrasion and atmos Silicone resins.
pheric conditions. Vinylite lacquers .
Melamine formaldehyde lacquers.
dation or drying have a tendency to absorb the ether solvents such as methyl cellosolve are also
oxygen from the metal oxide, thus converting it to recommended. Solvents that mildly attack the
metal. In those cases where the metallic oxide is surface of the base plate, such as toluene on a poly
not reduced , it is held to the surface entirely by styrene base, usually improve the adhesion.
the binder. The conductance and adhesion,
therefore, are determined by the amount and type (d) Reducing Agent
of binder employed. Where the paints are ap A reducing agent is used to reduce the metallic
plied to surfaces that are not entirely rigid ,the compound to metal when the base material will not
vinylite resins provide needed flexibility. For stand high firing temperatures, for example a .
certain plastics, nitrocellulose or ethyl cellulose plastic. Formaldehyde and hydrazine sulfate are
lacquers provide quick drying action at low tem used to convert silver oxide to pure silver. They
peratures. The phenolic resins are usually used to are driven off at the relatively low temperature
bond resistance paint. They yield excellent sta 70 ° C, considerably less than the temperature re
bility in resect to changes in temperature. Lead quired to reduce silver oxide by the firing process.
borate, lead silicate, sodium borosilicate and simi
lar fluxes 4 are recommended as binders for ceram (e) Filler
ics and glass. Although a stronger bond to the The filler is the material used to spread or sepa
surface is had by firing , the use of ethyl silicate as
a binder for silver oxide on glass and steatite with rate the particles of pigment to increase the elec
out firing produced aa satisfactory bond. trical resistance. Powdered mica , mineralite ,
diphenyl , and powdered chlorinated diphenyls are
(c) Solvent typical types of fillers employed .
The solvent is used to dissolve the binder if it is B. Conductor Paints
in solid form and to adjust the viscosity of the
pigment-binder mixture. Most of the common Although paints for the conductors 5 may be
aromatic and aliphatic solvents may be used in made up in the laboratory, there are commercially
paints for printed circuits. Typical examples are available excellent products that have been de
alcohol, acetone, ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, cello veloped as the result of careful research. Not
solve acetate, carbitol acetate, amyl acetate, tur only are there a variety of preparations for special
pentine, and butyl cellosolve. One manufacturer purposes, but the manufacturers have demon
recommends either high boiling solvents of the strated unusual ability and cooperation in making
glycol-ether type or high boiling lacquer thin up special paints for specific applications. The
ners of the ester-ketone type [ 2 ]. Lacquer commercialpaints require no additional attention
thinners such as butyl acetate as well as glycol
5 Conductor paints are used not only for conductors but for
4 The term flux is used to designate a binder and not a cleans inductors, capacitor electrodes, shields and other low resistance
ing agent. elements .
6
prior to application. Whereas practically all ticles of silver are spread evenly over the surface
paints maybe used on highly refractory material and held tightly to the base plate by the flux. The
such as glass and steatite, itis best in purchasing firing temperature depends on both the flux used
paint for use on plastics, cloth and paper to re and the material of which the base plate is made.
quest formulations especially suited for that pur A minimum amount of flux should be used, just
pose. The intended mannerof application should enough to bond the silver tightly to the plate.
also be stated. There are paints suited for poly Excess flux reduces the conductance of the silver
styrene or for Lucite and Plexiglas, others are film . Care must be exercised in preventing the
especially prepared for the prime base materials temperature from rising high enough to produce
such as glass and steatite. One can go so far as tiny metal globules that weaken the bond to the
to specify the degree of scratch or abrasion resist plate and interfere seriously with the conductance.
ance desired. Although paints are available for A satisfactory formula for a flux type paint is
painting on paper and on cloth ( such as Metaplast five parts of metallic silver or silver oxide and one
17A ) one must expect the conductance to be af part ofbinder such as lead borate, ground together
fected by use, especially by folding. The silver in a paint mill with enough vegetable oil to give
content is usually adjustedaccording to the man the paint the proper consistency. The viscosity
ner in which the paint is to be applied. If it may be adjusted further if desired by adding a
is to be brushed on, a paint of at least 50 percent of small amount of acetone.
silver by weight is recommended. For spraying Silver oxide paints using laboratory prepared
a silver content of 35 percent by weight is suitable lacquers as binders and containing vitreous ma
while for application by use of aa stencil screen , the terials such as lead silicate glass ( softening point
silver content should be as much as 60 percent by about 550 ° C ) or lead borate (softening point
weight [2] . The composition and viscosity are about 500 ° C ) in several percentages have been
selected to suit the method of application. The successfully prepared in the laboratory. The
unused paint should be checked often, perhaps paints were applied to steatite plates and dried
once or twice a day in order to keep the composi under infrared lamps for several minutes, then
tion of the paint from varying due to the evapora fired in a muffle furnace at 800 ° C to 850 ° C for 1
tion of the solvent. About the only additional to 11/2 hours. Metallic silver of low resistance was
precaution that must be observed is that of thor deposited attached firmly to the plate. Other
oughly stirring the paint before using. For this sample formulas used in the laboratory are shown
purpose, it hasbeen found convenient to place the in table 2 .
container on its side on a set of mechanical rolls.
This allows constant and uniform stirring with TABLE 2. - Conductor paint formulas
the container sealed, thus preventing loss of sol [All percentages are by weight]
vent that would occur should the stirring be car
ried out in an open vessel. Base plate Ceramics Glass Thermosetting Thermoplastic
material type plastics type plastics
There are several ways of preparing conducting
paints in the laboratory. In one the pigment is a 450 ° to 800 °
C.
a 450 ° to 650
C.
a 25° to 175° C. a 250 to 75º C.
dispersed in the binder and applied to the surface. Pigment - Finely ground Finely ground | Finely ground | Finely ground
silver powder silver powder silver powder silver powder
The unit is then elevated to the proper temperature 65 % . 65 % . 70 % . 70 % .
required to drive out the solvent and to adhere the Binder .--- Cellulose res- Cellulose res- Cellulose res- Methacrylate
in, 13% + in , 13% + in Metha- resin , Polysty
metal to the plate. To improve the bond, a flux Finely di- Finely di- crylate resin rene resin ,
vided low vided low Phenolic res- 20 % .
may be added and a similar procedure followed . softening
point class,
softening
point class ,
ins, 20 % .
The units must now be raised to a temperature 12%. 12% .
above that at which the flux melts and below the Solvent--- Acetates or Acetates or Acetates, Ke- | Ketones, Ben
Cellosolve Cellosolve tones or Cel- zene, Toluene
derivatives, derivatives, losolve de- or Ethylene
melting point of the metal. Although silver oxide 10% . 10% . rivatives, dichloride,
may be reduced at approximately 400° C, on stea 10 % . 10 % .
tite a temperature of 700 ° to 800° C is usually a Processing temperature .
employed. As the temperature is raised, in a
typical example of paint, the solvent evaporates C. Resistor Paints
at 150° C , followed by the binder at 200 ° C. At
400° C, the flux melts and at 800 ° C , the silver The resistor paint consists of the conducting
forms into a smooth conducting film . The par pigment ( such as carbon black or powdered graph
ite in carbon resistors or a metallic salt in resistors
6 American manufacturers include E. I. duPont de Nemours of the metal film type), a binder ( such as phenolic
Co. , Inc. , and Metaplast Co. , Inc. A paint consisting of silver resin in solution ) , aa filler ( such as mineralite) and
suspended colloidally in oil sold in Germany under the name
of Mattsilber K, produced by W. C. Heraeuse GmbH . Platin a solvent ( such as alcohol). These ingredients are
schmeize, Hanau, Germany [ 3 ] . A study of a British publica
tion [ 4 ] on silvered ceramic capacitors and inductors indi varied in proportion to produce resistances vary.
cates the availability of silver paints with suitable electrical
properties on the British market.
ing in value from a few orms to hundreds of
7 Silver melts at 961 o° C. megohms. They usually are printed in widths
TABLE 3. - Resistor paint formulas
[All percentages are by weight|
Process
Approximate resistance Approximate thicknessa Pigment Binder Solvent ing tem
perature
Ohms In . o C.
1,000 . 0.003 . 38% Graphite 62% Silicone resin ... 275
.003 . 13% Carbon black . 275
2,000 .
127% Graphite .. 70% Silicone resin .
$ 4 % Carbon black . 275
5,000.-- .003..
119% Graphite
ſ12 % Carbon black .
} 77 % Silicone resin...
25,000.--- .003 . 33% Phenolic resin thinner..- 175
25,000 to 50,000 ... .0015 to 0.003 -
( 38 % Graphite
7 % Carbon black .
} 7217 %% Phenolic resin..- 21 % Benzene. 275
Silicone resin ..
25,000 to 50,000 .0015 to 0.003 . 4% Carbon black . 74% Silicone resin .. 22% Benzene . 275
12 % Carbon black . 20 % Crystallite . ſ12 % Toluene 50
45,000--10 megohms.. .001 to 0.004 .
127% Graphite - (29% Ethylene dichloride .
ſ11 % Carbon black . 50
50,000-10 megohms ... .001 to 0.004 . 23 % Graphite . %66 % Ethyl cellulose lacquer ...
a All Resistors were approximately 0.10 in . wide and 0.40 in . long .
from 364 in . to 332 in. and in lengths from 1/8 in. are presented as a compilation of formulas used to
to 3/8 in. print resistors of the values indicated.
The choice and ratio of ingredients govern the There is need for additional experimental work
determine
degree of adhesion to the base plate and in developing improved methods of printing resis
other physical and electrical characteristics. In tors and in clarifying the theory of resistor com
present practice the paints are mixed by the user position and performance. This is especially true
who determines experimentally the proper formu with carbon resistors. At the present time, the
lation to obtain the desired resistance in the speci best resistor mixes are considered to be those in
fied area. As an example, good results in the 1- to which the conducting element is predominately or
10 -megohm range on a steatite base were achieved entirely carbon black ' dispersed in a suitable
at theBureau using 7 percent of colloidal graphite, resin . However, carbon black is high in resistiv
46.5 percent of Dow resin 993 and 46.5 percent of ity so that it has been necessary to add acetylene
benzene. A second useful formula was 15 percent blackor graphite to bring the average value within
of colloidal graphite, 99 percentof lampblack, 29 practical limits. There are many types of carbon
percent of bakelite BL -68 and 47 percent of bake black each characterized by particle size, particle
ſite thinner BS-68. Two coats were applied. The arrangement, the type of gas used in its manufac
first was dried at 75 ° C for 15 minutes, after which ture and its impurities, particularly surface im
the second was applied and the whole unit baked purities.
at 150° C for 1 hour. On temperature cycling over Current knowledge points to the use of carbon
the range + 50°C to -50 ° C, the average re blacks of relatively small size for resistor paints,
sistance change was approximately +10 percent as those of particlediameterin the range 20 to50 mu.
shown by curve A in figure 19. The carbon black should have its surface impuri
In the present state of the art it is not feasible ties, principally oxygen , removed by calcining.
to present a set of resistor paint formulations that This is doneby heating toa temperature of approx
one may use without special attention in the labo imately 1,050° C for 4 hours preferably in aa nitro
ratory. Resistors may be painted readily only af gen atmosphere. The oxygen concentration is
ter careful practice. A paint formula that is suc reduced to a limit of about one-half of 1 percent.
cessful to one experimenter may not work well for After calcining the carbon black, it is best to
another because of the manner in which the in disperse it in the binder by ball milling, using for
gredients are mixed, the quality of the ingredients, example, flint balls. The size and density of the
the amount of evaporation of solvent prior to ap balls and the speed of the mill are all important
plication or any number of other small but im factors in this operation. The dispersion may be
portant factors. However, the data of table 3 checked by measuring the resistance that decreases
asymptotically with time as the milling proceeds.
8 Resistor paints for printed circuits unlike conduct r paints,
are not readily available commercially . There are many sup
When the resistance has reached a minimum , the
pliers of carbon black , graphite and other paint constituents. milling should be stopped. A good ball milling
High resistance graphite paints that can be applied by the silk
screen process are “ Dispersion No. 22 or No. 154,” manufactured technique applied for 72 hours usually assures ade
by Acheson Colloids Corp., Port Huron , Mich . They are dis quate dispersion of the carbon in the resin. The
persions of colloidal graphite in organic solvents. Highly pure
electrical-furnace nonfusible graphite is used. Concentrated dis resin plays an important part in the dispersion
persions of colloidal graphite in distilled water may be applied
direct to glass, ceramics and other materials to form electrically
conductive ( résistance ) films that are chemically inactive and 9 Carbon black here is interpreted to mean carbon produced by
nonfusible. Although this practice is satisfactory to form a base impinging the flame of hydrocarbon gas on a metal surface such
for electroplating or for electrostatic shields, it is not readily as a plate or channel . Also known as channel black , gas black or
adaptable to printing resistors. impingement black .

and considerable practice has been necessary to and calcium solidscommonly found in tap water.10
determine the best type of resin to use. It must If the cleansing is carried out thoroughly, one
have good solvent release. operation should be sufficient. If desired, one may
Much also remains to be learned about the fac follow with a second operation by treating the sur
tors contributing to noise in resistors. Noise ap face with a dilute solution of potassium hydroxide
pears to be a function of particle size, the finer [ 6,7 ]. The second operation, commonly followed
the carbon , usually, the less the noise. This is in silvering mirrors, may not be necessary in print
perhaps due partly to the fact that smaller par ing electronic circuits. Glazed surfaces may be
ticles presentmore contacts. A good deal of ex cleansed of paraffin and carbonized organic mate
perimentation, including X-ray and electron mi rials by using a mixture of chromic and sulfuric
croscope studies, is now underway seeking to clar acid . " In stubborn cases , the material may be
ify the relationship of carbon particle size and placed in the solution and heated slightly .
shape, particle arrangement in solution and other Thermoplastics such as Lucite or Plexiglas may
factors to resistor performance. be cleansed with a dilute solution of tri - sodium
phosphate, then rinsed in water and dried to re
2. Surface Preparation move any oil. For certain types of plastics, such
as the phenolics, the surface may be cleansed with
The insulating surface on which the circuits are ordinarycarbon tetrachloride followed by swab
to be printed may first have to be treated to im bing with a very dilute solution of potassium
prove the adhesion. The methods described hydroxide or warm chromic acid. In one prac
herein are adaptable to all of the printing proc tice, this is followed with a quick dip in a strong
esses. Adhesion to methyl methacrylate ( Lucite, caustic soda solution or nitric acid .
Plexiglas, etc.) may be increased by roughening
the surface as by sand blasting. Roughening pro 3. Application of Conductor Paints
duces a minute granular surface to which better
mechanical bonding may be had. When this is A. Circuit Design
done, however, the surface becomes porous and
the internal strength of the plastic may be re In many applications the arrangement of the cir
duced, causing the plate to buckle. In such in cuit can be chosen in any convenient manner. The
stances, precautions should be taken to coat the circuit may be painted in the same way it would be
surface after printing the circuit . Glass surfaces drawn onpaper. Eyelets would be placed where
may be prepared by etching with hydrofluoric the tube elements are later to be attached. It will
acid fumes or sand blasting. Etching may also generally be found more convenient and economi
be used, if necessary , on glazed ceramic materials. cal , however, to lay out the printed circuit in such
Glass may be sand blasted or sprayed with other a way as to keep the length of leads to a minimum
abrasive materials. Usually, suitable protective and to avoid cross-overs. Cross-overs are handled
stencils or coatings are used to confine the rough by going through the base plate and continuing on
ening to that portion of the surface occupied by the opposite side, by going around theedge, or by
the circuit. cementing or spraying a thin layer of insulating
The next step is to make surethat the surface material over the lead crossed.
is absolutely clean, for the bonding or adhesion Itis important to emphasize that observation of
may be weakened considerably by the presence of good electronic wiring practice is as essential to
impurities. The impurities prevent direct contact the successful design of printed circuits as it is in
between metal and surface, and are a poor or use standard circuits. In printed circuits the parts are
less base on which to form the circuit. The prob usually placed closer to each other so that caution
lem of cleaning is not difficult, and customary pro must be exercised to see that the components do
cedure may be followed using standard cleaning not affect each other adversely while the circuit is
materials [5, 6, 7 ) . In selecting the chemicals, it in operation. In one experience poor performance
is important to consider the type of surface being of a printed oscillator in the 150-megacycle range
cleaned . A material suitable for glass, for ex was traced to excessive grid -ground capacity re
ample, might produce undesirable effects if tried sulting from excess silver in a groove of the base
plate. The heavy silver deposit in the groove
on plastics. being at ground potential and also near the grid
On hard surfaced material such as glass and terminal of the oscillator tube by-passed the RF
ceramics, after washing the surface with water fol
lowed by a rinsing with a suitable detergent, the 10 Dr. Carl Bosch ( of Heidelberg, Germany) has described a pro
cedure for cleaning glass, which is very good. He washes the
surface may be swabbed with a dilute solution of glass with a potassium nitrate and sulfuric-acid solution . In
nitric acid. If soap is used as the detergent, it this way , any chemical action taking place results principally in
gaseous products which evaporate. Then follows a hot -water
should be rinsed off well with distilled water. De dip after which a blast of steam is played on the surface. The
surface is dried while still hot in a water -vapor atmosphere. It
tergents such as aerosol are preferred because they dries instantaneously , without forming minute water droplets,
which on drying might leave nonuniform traces of materials
form water soluble compounds with magnesium dissolved in the water.

current from the tank inductor. Reducing the size usually used varies from around 74 to 200
width and depth of the silver line restored the mesh.11 Stainless steel screens of 300 mesh have
electrical performance to normal. been used to print silver leads. With screens of
Proper attention to circuit layout may produce 120 mesh, it is practicable to print resistors of
many desirable advantages such as the electro +20 percent tolerance or better.
static shielding of leads from one another. A Stencilled screens for printed circuits may be
ground lead painted between two other leads acts purchased commercially . Separate stencils are
as an electrostatic shield in a manner similar to used for the conductors and resistors. Stencils
the screen in a screen grid tube. This effect has are often used for preparing the plate, that is for
been used to good advantage in providing hum cleaning and roughening , and for applying pro
reduction by shielding grid leads from the fila tective resin coatings to resistors and inductors .
ment leads [8] .
(b) . Preparation of Stencils
B. Brushing The screen is prepared by stretching it tightly
The paint may be applied to the surface in any over a wooden 12 frame. A photographic method
one of a number of ways depending upon the type is used to impart the circuit design to it. The
screen is coated with a thin film of material such as
of apparatus available and the electrical tolerances
required. When close electrical tolerances are not gelatin or polyvinyl alcohol and photosensitized
needed , the paint may besimply brushed on . with potassium dichromate.13 When subjected to
For brushing, an ordinary soft camel hair brush strong ultraviolet light, the film becomes insoluble
may be used. After the paint is stirred and the in water. To impart the stencil pattern to the film ,
viscosity adjusted, it is applied in smooth, even a photographic positive of the pattern desired is
strokes, care being taken to avoid air bubbles or held tightly against the sensitized screen and ex
films between the plate and the paint, or other im posed to light as in figure 6, A. Those parts of the
perfections that ultimately might result in blisters film which are not exposed to the light are water
or cracks in the paint. soluble and wash out in cold water, leaving the
If the conductors are to be held to close dimen design of the pattern to be printed.
sional tolerances, more care is necessary in apply Figure 6, B , shows a typical screen prepared in
ing the paint so as to maintain the necessary de this manner. Polyvinyl alcohol yields a highly
gree of uniformity between assemblies. There are, satisfactory blocking material for the screen. Al
however, a large number of radio and electronic though gelatin has not proven as good, it usually
applications where, except for a few components, gives acceptable performance. It is important
close tolerances in current-carrying capacity are that the blocking material be selected such that it
not needed nor is exact electrical duplication of will not be attacked by solvents in the paint.
subsequent assemblies important. Silk screens once stencilled may not be resten
cilled satisfactorily. To use themetalscreens for
C. Stencilling new designs,the backlog material may be removed
(a) Stencil Material
by soaking themin a hot hydrogen peroxide solu
tion, containing 3 percent of H2O2, for 30 minutes
The simplest stencil is one in which the pattern to an hour. Scrub with hot water , dry, and re
is cut from aa thin sheet of metal, plastic, paper , or move any remaining traces of organic material in
an open flame.
cloth and the paint applied in a manner similar
to that in which commercial packages are labeled. (c) . Stencilling Procedure
Uses of this type of stencil are limited . Electronic
assemblies for hearing aids, radios, etc., are pro This practice is basically the same as any sten
duced uniformly at high rates of speed by using cilling procedure, although certain precautions
a thin screened stencil made of cloth or metal. must be observed. For example, extreme care
The higher the quality of the screen and the finer must be exercised to see that thescreen is level and
the weave, the greater the uniformity in produc
tion. By employing a finer mesh, the edges are 11 Mesh classifications are : 6xx, 74 mesh ; 8xx, 86 mesh ; 10xx,
109 mesh ; 12xx, 125 mesh ; 14xx, 139 mesh ; 16xx, 157 mesh .
more sharply defined and the variation from as 12 Metal, plastic or other types of frames may be employed.
sembly to assembly will be reduced . 13 A formula recommended by duPont [ 9 ] is polyvinyl alcohol
11.5 percent by weight, potassium dichromate ( saturated solu
Screens made of silk have found wide use in tion ) 5 percent by weight, water 83.5 percent by weight ( color
with dark blue pigment dye) . The alcohol is dissolved in cold
printed circuits work . Metal screens have also water, then heated and filtered ( polyvinyl alcohol is supplied as
a water solublepowder ) . The solution may be poured into a
worked out satisfactorily and in many cases have shallow tray and the screen dipped into it sufficiently to coat the
proven more practical than silk screens. They are entire outside surface. The screen with coated side up is whirled
in a suitable device to distribute the solution uniformly over the
prepared by the same process as silk screens. entire surface. After drying in a dark room , it may be exposed
Either stainless steel, copper, phosphor-bronze or through the photographic positive to a 1,500 candle power arc
lamp, 3 ft away, for about 5 minutes. Itis developed by a light
similar materials may be used. It should be pos spray of cold water on the underside of the screen . The meshes
may be blown open with light blasts of air to insure good detail.
sible to use screens made of glass mesh. The mesh The screen is then dried and ready for use.
10 Circulars of the National Bureau

и of Standards
IT
7
A B
FIGURE 6. Preparation of stencilled - screen .

A , Screen coated with photosensitive material is exposed to strong light through a photographic positive of circuit pattern ;
B, stencil screen before and after pattern is applied photographically.
contacts all parts of thework evenly. This may be properly over the work plate and allows intimate
acomplished without difficulty by using a well de contact with the latter without forcing the screen .
signed holder for the screen , which positions it A retractable stencil holder is shown in figure 7A.
co
A B
FIGURE 7. Stencilling operations.

A ,Retractable stencil holder for applying paint to insulated plate. Holder moves forward and down over plate held in platen.
Plate shown has just been removed from platen ; B, application of paint through stencilled -screen . A single smooth stroke of the
squeegee is required.
11
base plate rather than to attempt to wipe the
screen. Silk screens may be cleaned by using
4 special commercially prepared solvents applied
very carefully with a soft cloth so as not to rub
off the blocking portion .
LT ... D. Other Methods of Applying Paint

Other methodsof applying the paint are appar
ently limited only by the ingenuity of theuser.
Some which appear to have good possibilities in
clude the use of decalcomanias, the application of
ordinary printing, engraving and lithographing
techniques, intaglio process and the special pencils,
LILI fountain pens and fountain type brushes. Print
ing electronic circuits by the decalcomania process
is feasible and useful in applying the circuits to
cylindrical and irregularly shaped objects, in
cluding vaccum tubes. The procedure is to print
FIGURE 8. Four stages in printing an electronic circuit by the circuit on a thin film which may be transferred
the stencilled -screen process ; top left, blank steatite '
plate ; top right, conductor pattern of silver paint ap to the final surface. After transfer, the film is
plied through silk screen ; lower left, six resistors added removed by firing. The firing operation may also
with carbon paint using second stencil ; lower right, serve to drive out residual solvents and binder
subminiature tubes soldered in place. from the paint and to fuse the metal to the final
surface. The wiring may be applied to the decal
The mechanical assembly is designed to swing the comania film by many of the methods described
screen clear of the plate after the printing opera above, including stamping.
tion . Attention has been directed toward developing
The next step is to place the paint on one end of and using methods of printing electronic circuits
the top surface of the screen and bring the plate involving the standard processes of printing.
on which the wiring is desired into contact with Here also precedents have been set since, for
the bottom surface. A neoprene bar or ““ squeegee” example, metal designs are printed directly on
is moved across the top surface, forcing the silver china using rubber stamps. Exactly the same
paint ahead and through the open mesh of the
screen pattern as illustrated in figure 7B. A uni practice is applied to printing circuits by using
a rubber stamp bearing the circuit wiring pattern
form film thickness is obtained and very little on its face. The stamp is first pressed onto a pad
paint is wasted. When the screen is removed, the saturated with conducting ink, then onto the sur
plate bears a design which conforms identically
to that of the stencil pattern. Figure 8 shows a face to be printed. If air drying ink is used and
steatite plate before and after stencilling opera the base material, for example, is plastic, the ink
tions . may be allowed to dry in air. Plating will increase
the conductance if needed . If the base material is
Neoprene makes an effective squeegee as it has
the right degree of pliability. However , it may glass or ceramic, the paint may be fired after the
be attacked by ingredients in the paint. If this impression and essentially the same steps followed
happens, a squeegee constructed of Buna-N rubber as in the silk screen method . Although this prac
or other comparatively inert material should be tice is well suited to printing conductors, it may
used. not work out well with resistors if close tolerances
Mesh marks will be left by the screen if the paint are necessary .
is allowed to get too thick or if too much pressure It is now an easy step to the letter press or offset
is exerted on the squeegee. It is not out of printing processes used to print literature [ 10] .
order to emphasize the need for checking the vis Figure 9 shows a printing press arranged to print
cosity to see that the paint composition is main an electronic circuit on an insulated plate D. The
tained within close límits if uniform electrical
performance is to be obtained. Other simple soft rollers A first pass over the ink plate B , which
precautionsare necessary, such as maintainingthe is coated with conducting ink. On the return
motion, they sweep over block C, which carries the
underside ofthescreenfree of paint during print metal pattern of the circuit to be printed, and coat
ing and to see that paint does not remain in the
open meshes of the screen at the end of the day's it with a layer of ink. In the final step, carrier E
operation. If the impression appears smeared, it presses the plate firmly against C, printing the
will be best to clean the screen by going through desired pattern on plate D. Units of this type
the painting operation a few times over a spare may print a layer of silver paint 2 or 3 mils thick.
To increase the conductance the printing may be B
repeated. A variation of this process is to inter A

pose an additional roller between C and Eto
transfer the print C to D. In this manner,
plate D is retained in a fixed position during the
printing [ 11 ] .
The printing press process has been used to print
spiral loop antennas on the internal surface of А
radio cabinets. It is adaptable to any type of base
plate. After the paint has been applied , the plate
is subjected to the usual drying or firing proce
dure. A paint that has proven successful for use
in the printing press consists of a colloidal sus
pension of metallic silver but with silver oxide
and other inorganic materials kept to an absolute
minimum . Up to 70 percent of silver may be used. с
The binder and solvent are volatile below 300 ° C.
This paint produces an even coating, which ad
heres strongly to the base plate after firing at 300 °
C. Coatings of fair conductance [ 11] are ob
tained even after firing at 110° C.
D
The technique of printing metal decorations on
paper from steel and copper plates offers a pos
sible field for exploration in printed circuits.
Other variations suggested are the direct appli
cation of paint to the insulating surface bymeans
of a rubber, metal or plastic block with the cir E
cuit design prepared as a cavity or deep etch to
hold an appreciable quantity of paint. The prim
itive and seldom-used method of employing an or
dinary lead pencil to draw a high resistance line
ད
FIGURE 9. Printing press for printing electronic circuits.
on a sheet of paper should not be overlooked. The
principal objection is the low conductivity and into cup shaped or irregularly shaped forms.14
wide variation in resistance of the line. It is
conceivable that pencils may be developed that It consists of applying the paint to an organic
contain better conducting “ leads” so that not only insulating supporting structure (paper impreg
resistors but conductors may be drawn. Such a nated with phenolic lacquer) and curing both
pencil might find use in such applications as in the paint and plastic simultaneously. Although
Îaboratory work where it is desired to arrive at a it has been tried only with thermosetting base
rapid estimate as to how various circuit configura materials, it appears feasible for application
tions perform electrically. to thermoplastic materials as well. Any desired
thickness of metallic conductor may be applied as
To date, no satisfactory method of applying the well as resistors and other component parts. A
paint by dipping the work into it has been found. measure of the flexibility of this process is af
The principal drawback to this method is the in forded by the fact that external connections to the
ability to control the thickness of the paint. Tear circuit may be made through eyelets on the base
drops are formed and an uneven distribution of material. The eyelets may be applied after print
paint usually results. With plastics, dipping al ing without danger of cracking the base. An an
lows more of a chance for the solvent to attack
the base material. It is possible that a satisfac
tenna printed by this process is shown in figure
10. Note the eyelets to which external leads are
tory means of employing it might be worked out, readily soldered .
using glass, steatite and other hard base materials.
Tear drops and fat edges may be eliminated by E. Drying
means of a recently described electrostatic method
[ 12] which removes the excess paint , leaving a After applying silver wiring to ceramic plates ,
smoothly coated surface. Although this tech
nique has not been tried in connection with printed they are heated to remove the binder and solvents
and to bond the silver to the plate. Properly fired
circuits,itappear stohave
ing circuits both by possibilities for print
dip and flow coating. silver has the typical dull metallic silver appear
ence and will adhere to the ceramic surface with a
A process has been developed for applying the tensile strength of approximately 3,000 lb./in .?,
printed circuit technique to thermosetting plastics
in such a manner that the circuit can be formed
1+ Developed by Herlec Corporation.
763035-47---- 3
when the paint is made of finely divided metallic high baking temperatures. In dielectric heating,
silver or silver oxide uniformly dispersed in a the heat can be centered in the material it is desired
suitable binder. The degree of bonding or adher to evaporate from the paint.
ance of the fired silver depends on the surface
condition of the ceramic before the paint is ap
plied. To obtain the strength quoted, the surface
4. Application of Resistor Paints
must be absolutely free of dust, dirt, grease or A. Carbon- Film Resistors
other contaminants.
As with most techniques, the successful painting Resistors may be painted by brushing or stencil
of electronic circuits depends upon the careful ob ling the resistance material onto the wiring sur
servation of small points. The manner in which face. In brushing, the same technique is followed
the coating is dried is important and may be de as for the conductors. In the stencilling method,
termined experimentally for the type of paint stencils are employed with openings at positions
used. Instructions may be obtained from the paint corresponding to blanks in the conductor wiring
manufacturer. For example, one manufacturer stencil. The position of the openings in one ex
specifies aa 3-hour drying at 50° C for silver paint ample may be seen by referring to figure 8 in which
which it manufactures for use on thermoplastics are shown plates before and after resistors have
applied by means of a screen . Other paint and been applied.
spray preparations dry satisfactorily in 1 hour Excellent results have been obtained using a
at 40 ° C or overnight at room temperature [ 2] . simple squeegee as is done in painting conductors.
Longer drying is to be preferred if time allows. If The stencilled - screen is prepared in the same way.
the basic material is thermosetting instead of Registors of better quality are produced with two
thermoplastic, the temperature may be raised 10° applications of paint through an 80 mesh silk or
or 20 ° C and the time reduced. Infrared lamps 120 mesh copper screen , using a pressure - con
are often used for drying printed circuits. trolled squeegee. As might be expected, the pres
Dielectric heating maybe employed to heat the sure and speed of the squeegee bar moving across
paint after application to the surface. By design the screen play an important part in the uni
ing a suitable set of electrodes under which the formity of the resistance produced. Using similar
work is slowly passed on a conveyor belt, it is paints, stencils and base plates, the pressure-con
possible to drive the binder and solvents out of the trolled squeegee yields a considerably larger per
paint by treating them as the dielectric in a high centage of resistors within fixed tolerance ranges
frequency dielectric heating system . It is sug than the hand wiping method . Uniformity suffers
gested that binder and solvent materials be selected in the hand wiping method because of the difficulty
which, if possible, have high loss factors, i. e., a of exerting the same pressure each time the bar is
high product of dielectric constant and power fac moved across the screen. Any paint remaining in
tor. Thus, acetone is preferred over alcohol. This the screen after one operation will affect the value
method may be useful in working with base ma of the resistors painted in the subsequent opera
terials such as thermoplastics which will not stand tion .
A pressure -controlled squeegee used by one man
ufacturer is illustrated in figure 11. The work
is moved accurately into position against the
0"
FIGURE 10. Loop antenna printed on plastic sheet. FIGURE 11. Pressure - controlled painted resistor applicator.

screen by a pedal operated elevator. The screen ufacture. On an amplifier chassis, one manu
is held securely in place while the squeegee, which facturer successfully uses four resistance paint
rides on a carriage, sweeps over it. The squeegee formulations and makes a total of from 8 to 16
may be adjusted for angular position and securely application of resistance paint to the two sides of
locked in place . The carriage is constrained to the base plate. In this manner resistors of close
move only in a horizontal direction within close toleranceare produced. The operation, although
vertical tolerances. In this manner , pressure over seemingly complex, is readily adaptable to the
the screen is maintained uniform as the device assembly line as the applications and subsequent
sweeps back and forth. Although designed to drying adapt themselves either to manual or auto
produce uniform resistors, the device is applicable matic operation using either the conveyor belt or
to silver paintingas well as to applying a lacquer pass-along system. After the resistors have been
coating to the resistors. air dried, the paint is finally cured in an oven.
As powdered carbon has more of a tendency to
a Curing is affected at the proper temperature to
adhere to the screen than silver, clogging may oc convert the heat polymerizable resin into an in
cur. The difficulty is relieved by properselection fusible state. For carbon paint in a bakelite resin
of the other paint ingredients. “A screen with binder, the curing temperature is approximately
larger mesh openings may also be used. Typical 150° C. One practice is to oven dry the first side
silk screen mesh sizes vary from 74 to 200 mesh. of the plate for 20 minutes at 150 ° C, then paint
The latter is useful only for painting high values the second side and oven dry the assembly for 2
of resistance for which carbon of very small par hours at the same temperature.
ticle size is used.
Not only the paint formulation but the width, TABLE 4. — Variation in pilot production of printed
resistors
length, and number of coats of resistor material
may be varied to increase the range of resistor Mean de
Number of Mini Outside
values possible. Practice has shown that closer mum Average Maximum viation
Outside
resistors resistance resistance from + 10% + 20 %
uniformity may be had using several coats to build tested resistance
average
tolerance tolerance
up the resistor. The paint should be allowed to
dry between coats. The drying cycle between Ohms Ohms Ohms Percent Percent Percent
38 4. 5 5. 9 10.6 +11.7 21. 0 13.0
coats is determined by practice and may vary from 61 1,500 1,600 1,800 +3.1 9.8 0
.
61 48,000 54, 000 59, 000 £3.0 1.6 0

exposure to air for 5 minutes at room temperature 61 . 81, 000 93, 000 110,000 £5.0 8. 2 0
376 +4.5 1.6
to a 10-minute exposure at 75 ° C. Filing or 91 .
800,000 1,800,000 2, 100, 000
3, 200, 000 3,600,000 4, 200, 000 +2.8
9. 5
2. 2 0
grinding may be employed to increase the re 35 . 7 , 200, 000 8,400, 000 9,500,000 +4.5 11.5
sistance after the resistor has dried. A small den
tal grinder serves well for this purpose. To de
crease the resistance, additional paint is brushed It would be highly desirable to be able to print
on . In this manner individual resistors may be the complete useful resistor range with a single
adjusted to very close tolerances. paint formulation. Although this is theoretically
The type of stencil and the accuracy with which possible, it may require printing some resistors in
it is made are important factors influencing the unreasonable sizes or placing unattainable toler
reproducibility of painted resistors. The stencil ances on the physical dimensions of other resis
must adhere closely to the base plate. Paper tors. A practical compromise is to cover the
masks have been used to position the resistors and range from 3 ohms to 200 megohms with from
determine their size but although they adhere three to six resistor mixes using one or more appli
closely to the surface, they tend to leave ridges cations of the paint. Figure 12 shows a coverage
at the sides of the resistor. Adoption of the silk of the range 1,000 ohms to 10 megohms using four
or metal screen has eliminated the ridges and given mixes and two applications of paint.
remarkable improvement in uniformity. It should If the design permits, some advantage may be
be possible to obtain better than 80 percent yield of gained by placing the low values of resistance on
resistors within = 15 percent tolerance with pro one side of the plate and the higher values on the
duction line methods. Those few that ordinarily other. This reduces the number of repetitions per
require closer tolerances may be adjusted as de
scribed above. The distribution of a limited num face required to produce the requisite number and
ber of resistors of values ranging from 5.9 ohms to range of resistors. High values of resistance may
8.4 megohms produced by the silk -screen method be painted in a small space by zig-zagging the
on a small pilot line is shown in table 4. From lines in any of the several variations used to de
79 to 98 percent were within = 10 percent of their note resistors in conventional wiring diagrams.
average value. Greatest spread was observed with If resistors of large power capacity are needed,
the smallest ( 5.9 ohm ) resistors. Those of 1,500 they may be painted on the inside of the cabinet
ohms and above were held within limits much housing the set. The resistance may also be di
closer than is required in usual electronic sets man vided in two or more parts, each placed on a sep
10,000,000 B. Metal - Film Resistors
Metal-film resistors are produced by depositing

a thin film of metal on a suitable base . In one
X .4
MI No method [ 14] this is done by painting a dilute solu
RANGE COVERED
BY tion ( as low as 11 percent) of palladium resinate in
RESISTOR MIXES ketone on a ceramic base material, drying in air
WIDTH OF RESISTORS : 0.10 in. for 30 minutes and heating to 750 ° C for an hour
THICKNESS OF RESISTORS = 0.002 in . to an hour and a half. Under the high tempera
1,000,000
ture, an extremely thin layer of palladium is de
posited on the ceramic surface and the residue
burned off . The noble metals are used in this
process because they remain substantially stable
X .3 and nonoxidizable at the high temperature. The
MI No
palladium is deposited chemically as the tempera
ture passes the range 200 ° to 400 ° C. The tem
OHMS
perature is kept in this range for 15 to 30 minutes,

ESISTANCE
after which it is raised to 750 ° C for an hour to

completely oxidize the ash or residue and insure
100,000 thorough precipitation of palladium .
Resistors up to 1 megohm may be produced in
this way. Higher values are difficult to produce
RES
X .2 by the painting method principally because of the

MI No
problem of depositing a uniformly thin or narrow
strip. However, the resistors have better char
acteristics than wire -wound resistors, i. e . , low
positive . temperature coefficient, good stability,
low-noise level, very good frequency characteris
19000 tics and good heat dissipation . The adherence to
the ceramic base is particularly strong.
X .ly
MI NO 5. Capacitors
It was stated that capacitor components of
printed circuits may be printed by using a base
material of high dielectric constant and painting
silver disks of the correct area on opposite sides
1,000 of the plates. The capacitance is effectively that
1.0
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 formed by the two silvered areas and the dielectric
LENGTH OF RESISTOR- INCHES between them . This practice is now used in appli
FIGURE 12. Typical range covered by carbon resistor mixes. cations where the high dielectric constant base
material does not affect the electrical performance
adversely or where it may be advantageously used
arate wall to dissipate the heat better and further in designing the circuit.
increase the power rating. Where it is necessary to use base plate materials
Reports show that during the past war, Ger of low dielectric constant, one accepted practice is
man plants produced carbon film resistors in fairly to solder capacitors directly to a single silvered
large quantities. At one plant, [ 13 ] a colloidal area on the base plate. The miniature thin -disk
suspension of carbon in lacquer was used , followed type of high dielectric constant capacitors having
by firing in an oven at 250 ° C. Only single re ceramic dielectrics have proven very satisfactory
sistors or cylindrical ceramic sticks were manu for this use [ 15, 16 ]. Titanium compounds and
factured.15 The 0.25 watt size was 0.16 in . in diam other dielectric materials have been developed
eter and 0.6 in . long. Tolerances of = 10% were
that exhibit a wide range of dielectric constants.
The principal problem has been the control of
met by production methods. The carbon film type dielectric losses and performance with tempera
of resistors were claimed to yield superior per ture. The capacitance for printed circuit use
formance over the molded type and particularly is controlled not only by the chemical formula
to have a lower noise level. of the dielectric but the thickness of the disk
and the area of silvering on the faces. Dielec
15 No record is available of the printing of complete electronic tric constants ranging from 40 to 10,000 have
circuits in Germany although metallized electronic components
such as capacitors and inductors on ceramic forms were developed. been used for capacitors from 6.5 to 10,000 Muf.
1
They are from 0.020 to 0.040 in. thick and 0.125 They are stable and in general are equivalent to
to 0.5 in. in diameter. Higher dielectric constant mica capacitors. They can be produced to toler
materials are available, but their electrical losses ances of £ 1 percent if desired. Average produc
and extreme variation with temperature in certain tion batches show over 50 percent under 5 percent
temperature ranges limit their use.. Properties of tolerance. One of the important features of this
barium -strontium titanate dielectrics have been type of construction is that it is entirely mech
measured and reported by the National Bureau of anized so that it should be possible to turn out
Standards ( 16 ]. Examination of this work will printed circuit assemblies including capacitors,
show that it is possible to select mixtures to meet wiring and resistors in an entirely automatic proc
a wide variety of applications. ess. This should make possible inexpensive mass
The capacitors are soldered to the plate with a produced electronic sets.
low temperature solder, such as 20 percent tin ,
40 percent bismuth, and 40 percent lead. This 6. Inductors
solder has a melting point of 110 ° C. Soldering
is accomplished by laying the capacitors over a The printed circuit technique may be used at
silvered area of the plate, after tinning the sur high as well as low frequencies. The lowest fre
face, and simply pressing down on top with a quency for which inductors may be printed is lim
soldering iron . Preheating and the low tempera ited by the printing area available . For a given
ture solder prevent the dielectric from fracturing area, however, the inductance may be increased
during the soldering operation. High dielectric
constant ceramic capacitors used at the Bureau by printing the inductor in multiple layers. Cir
have not exhibited appreciable hysteresis with cular or rectangular spiral inductor [ 18] may be
temperature. Upon cooling, they return to their printed flat on the base plate in the same manner
original value. In special cases the thermal shock as the wiring leads using silver paint. To in
received on soldering may cause a small perma crease the inductance, a layer of insulation is
nent change. painted over the inductor after which a second in
Any type of capacitor may be soldered to a ductor is printed. Any number of layers may thus
printed circuit assembly but those described above be built up to form inductors of high inductance.
have the greatest economy of space and adapt The usefulness of this method is limited princi
themselves very well to the printed circuit tech pally by the distributed capacity and the Q re
nique. quired of the inductor. Multiple layer inductors
Capacitors may be built on the base plate by may also be printed on cylindrical tubing.
spraying alternate layers of a conductor, such as The multiple layer idea need not be restricted
silver paint, and a high dielectric constant lacquer. to inductors . Several circuits may be printed on
The base plate may have a high dielectric con the same plate, one above the other, by interpos
stant material molded into it as a filler, so that ing a layer of insulation between them either by
silvered areas on opposite sides of the base ma painting, spraying, etc. The proximity of the cir
terial will form a capacitor. By molding the space cuits to each other must be taken into account in
for the dielectric thinner than the rest of the plate, laying out the design so that undesirable couplings
it is possible to obtain larger capacitors without are avoided.
weakening the base plate. It is possible to print reasonably high Q induc
Another capacitor particularly adaptable to tors by first applying silver paint and then silver
printed circuit techniques is the vitreous enamel plating. Spiral inductors in the two meter band
dielectric type [ 17]. It consists of alternate lay have been printed on a circle 0.625 in . in diameter.
ers of dielectric and conductive materials built up A Q of 125 is obtained by silver plating to a thick
by spraying and fired together, producing a ca ness of approximately 0.002 in. Inductors painted
pacitor which appears to be a solid plate of vitre on glass and steatite tubes have performed very
ous material. This capacitor may itself be used satisfactorily in oscillator circuits .
as a base for printed circuits and may be built Inductors of silver fired onto cylindrical ceramic
up to any reasonable size and in such a way that forms have been manufactured for some time [ 19 ].
the base plate contains any reasonable number of Better adhesion of the silver to the ceramic is
capacitors. Thus the circuit can be printed over had when the metal is fired onto the surface using
the capacitors, making a very compact assembly. a suitable flux than when some other method such
These units may be made with any capacitance as chemical reduction of the metal is used.
value if enough volume is provided. The usual The inductance of printed inductors on an in
volume allowance is 0.02 uf/ in . for a working sulating surface is low not only because of the
voltage of 500 v direct current. The power factor limited space employed for them but because they
is low enough so that Q’s of 3,500 may be had above operate in a medium of low permeability. One side
250 uuf and 1,000 for 10 uuf. Temperature coeffi is principally exposed to air while the other side
cient is approximately +100 ppm / ° C up to 125 ° C. has the insulating base material, also of low per
meability, in its field. A method of increasing the An inductor having 20 turns with a 2-in . outside
inductance is to eliminate some of the center turns diameter would have an inductance of 16u.
and fill the area with a magnetic paint made as a As the total self-inductance of two coils in series
colloidal suspension of powdered magnetic ma is L = Li + L2 + 2M and the mutual inductance for
terial. A modification is to print intertwined spi unity coupling is M = VLİL2, it should be possible
rals of silver and magnetic material or,, if the mag to obtain nearly four times the inductance of a
netic paint is made nonconducting, the whole in single inductor by painting a similar inductor on
ductor may be sprayed or painted with it. the reverse side of a thin ceramic plate and con
To increase the inductance, the base plate may necting the two in series aiding. This will decrease
be molded with a cylindrical indentation so that a
small cylindrical magnetic slug may be dropped the Q of the inductive circuit, however, as more
flux is included in the dielectric material.
into it and cemented into place. The base plate
itself may be molded with a magnetic filler added The mutual inductance of two inductors may be
to the plastic or ceramic. Another method is to utilized in other ways, such as making antenna
paint or place a magnetic disk in the insulating coupling inductors, grid to plate coupling induc
plate below the painted inductor, followed by a tors, band-pass filters, etc. These can either be
second magnetic disk above the inductor. The printed side by side, one inside the other, or on
combination may be painted on by first painting opposite sides of the base plate. A compact band
the magnetic disk. When this dries, a glaze or pass filter may be made by printing inductors and
similar insulating surface is applied over it, fol the plates of the shunt capacitors on directly op
lowed by painting the flat spiral inductor, then posite sides of a sheet of thin dielectric material.
another layer of insulating material and finally, Variable inductive or capacitive coupling between
a second magnetic disk. The disk tends to shield
the inductor, thus eliminating undesirable mag the two sections of the filter may be obtained by
nectic couplings to other parts ofthe circuit. Ob arranging so that either one of the inductors or
viously , extension of the practice may be made capacitor plates may be shifted relative to its
mate.
to printing inductors on cylindrical or other non The maximum inductance available in the usual
planar surfaces such as vacuum tubes. Inductors
may also be printed on two pieces of base material size of a plane spiral inductor without magnetic
that can be moved relative to each other to make core material is of the order of 60u, usually limiting
a variable tuning unit [20] . their use to frequencies above 0.5 megacycle. The
The important characteristics of the spiral in upper frequency limit will be set by the distributed
ductors used in printed circuitry are the induc capacity of the inductor in addition to the inter
tance, the distributed capacitance, and the loss. electrode capacitance of the tube . Printed induc
Since the inductor is in intimate contact with the
tors for frequencies in excess of 500 megacycles
base plate, which is a dielectric, the characteristics may be simply a pair of parallel lines.
of the dielectric are important. The distributed Unfortunately, the values of inductance obtain
capacitance is increased by a material having a able from flat spiral printed inductors of any
high dielectric constant, and the loss is increased
( Q decreased ) by material having a large dielec reasonable size are not large enough to allow radio
tric loss. The inductance may usually be calcu frequency chokes to be used, hence where possible,
lated, but the distributed capacitance and the loss chokes should be avoided in printed circuit design.
have to be determined empirically. If chokes must be used, they may be soldered
The inductance of aa thin flat spiral in a medium directly to the printed wiring. It is good practice
whose permeability is unity may becomputed by to design the circuit so as to require small capaci
the formula ( in microhenrys) : [21] tors and inductors and to use printed resistors in
place of chokes. This is illustrated in figure 33B in
1 + c 3c2 which a 2,200 -ohm resistor has the same function
L=0.0319
= an• [2.3(logo8a)(с 96a2 )+ sua? ]
80a? 2 as a B + choke.
Where a = average radius of the inductor in Printed solenoidal inductors are important in
inches suchapplications as the printing of circuits on the
n = number of turns envelope of a vacuum tube. Samples of this prac
c = radial thickness of the inductor in tice are shown in figure 35. The formula for the
inches inductance in this case is :
When the inductor starts at the center, 2a
and the formula simplifies to : pan2
L = 0.776 ana ug L uh .
Mg 9r + 10L
or L = 0.0194 dn2 Mg
where d is the outside diameter of the inductor Where r is the radius and L the length, in inches,
( i. e. , d= 4a ) . n is the number of turns .

7. Electron Tubes printed conductors and inductors as well. Suit
able protective coatings include : ( a ) Silicone
A large variety of subminiature tube types are resin in toluene ; ( b) polyvinyl acetate chloride
available that are applicable to the design of prac lacquer; (c ) polystyrene lacquer ; ( d) phenol
tically every type of low power electronic circuit . aldehyde lacquers.
These include many types of triodes for amplifiers, The type of coating selected depends in part on
oscillators, ( including UHF types) , electrometers, the type of binder used as an ingredient in the re
gas filled thyratrons, phototubes and diodes, sistor paint. If a phenolic binder is used, a cor
tetrodes (also a twin tetrode ), diode-pentodes, co responding phenolic lacquer coating that cures at
verters and a large number of different kinds of approximately the sametemperature as the paints
pentodes. The subminiature tubes have very low should be used. If the coating requires higher
drain ( 10 to 200 ma at 1.5 to 6.0 v ) and work well curing temperature than the resistor paint, there
as voltage amplifiers. Their power output varies is danger of carbonization ofthe paint when the
from a few milliwatts to almost 1 watt. Triodes coating is fired . If a phenolic base material is
of general purpose and UHF types are available used, it is good practice to specify a phenolic
milliwatts of output. RF pentodes have mutual binder in the paint as well as a phenolic lacquer
conductances of 5,500 to 6,500 micromhos. At 500 for the coating
megacycles, some of them deliver as much as 700 The coating may be applied through a screen 書
milliwatts of output. RF pentodes have mutual stencil in the same manner as the paint. A coarse
conductances up to 5,000 micromhos and plate re screen , 74 to 86 mesh, is usually employed. As
sistances from 0.1 to 3.0 megohms. with the resistors, improved results are obtained
The accomplishment of complete two-dimen by applying a double coat of resin with a 5 to 10
sional electronic circuits by incorporating the tube minute drying at elevated temperature (75° C)
within the ceramic base plate is brought into the between coats. Infrared lamps work well for this
realm of practical possibility by certain recent purpose. If followed with a 1 -hour baking at
developments [22, 23) . Vacuum tubes have been 150 ° C, the resulting coating will strongly resist
produced with part ceramic and part metal enve abrasion, cracking and the tendency to chip.
lopes. The tube elements are held in ceramic Where the electronic set is to be used under severe
forms metallized at the edges and sealed to metal tropical conditions, an additional tropicalization
end pieces. In one development the ceramic is treatment may be necessary.
metallized by applying a molybdenum-iron paint If the protective coating is applied properly,
[22] and firing at 1,330 ° C for 30 minutes. To im the resistance stability with time, under load or
prove soldering to the edge, it is brushed with a under extreme humidity conditions, will be very
paint consisting of nickel powder stirred in 10 good. When a set of resistors painted on steatite
percent collodion. The solvent on evaporation was exposed for 100 hours in 95 percent relative
leaves a nickel film that wets hard solder well . humidity at 43 ° C , the average resistance change
The tube elements and leads are also soldered to
-
was –- 10 percent for values in the range 5 ohms
-
the ceramic in this way. The molybdenum -iron to 10 megohms . This was not a permanent change,
layer provides a vacuum -tight junction between for on drying the resistors returned to their orig
the ceramic and metal at all temperatures. Utiliz inal values .
ing this practice, the internal structure of a sub The protective coating may cause a change in
miniature tube may be mounted in a slot in the the value of the resistor under certain conditions.
ceramic plate and the space sealed off by a thin One manufacturer who had developed a good re
ceramic wafer soldered to the plate. Tube leads sistance paint to be used with the hand painting
may be brought out by several convenient meth or spraying process experienced disturbing results
ods. Ceramics such as steatite not only have ex on applying the same paint through a stencilled
cellent electrical characteristics but their mechan
ical properties are superior to those of the usual screen . After painting the resistors, a protective
coat of resin was applied. Excellent results were
type of glass employed in vaccum tubes.
attained when the resistors were hand painted or
sprayed. Resistors produced with the same paint
8. Protective Coatings applied through a screen showed as much as 600
percent increase in value as the result of applica
Protection against abrasion, humidity and tion and baking of the protective coating. An in
other effects is obtained by applying special resin vestigation revealed a porous condition in the
coatings over the resistors. Baking the coat stencilled resistor. A rearrangement of percent
ing produces aa scratch-proof as well as humidity ages of binder and filler in the paint corrected the
proof envelope. It also renders the resistors more condition so that application of the protective
stable against the effects of temperature cycling. coating caused no changes in the value of the re
If desired, the coatings may be applied to the sistance .

-PERCENT
RESISTAN
CHANGE
9. Plating 2
The most practical way to increase the con
O
ductance of printed elements is to electroplate
over the initial printing. A good rule is to print -2
a thin layer of the order of 0.0005 in . or less and
SOLDER
AFTER
to electroplate on top of this. Copper plating -4
200
on silver is very practical for increasing the con
DIP
AT
°C
ductance, using the usual acid-copper sulfate -6
bath [ 24] . Best results are obtained if the initial
-
layer is plated at low current density, i.e . , a dep -8
osition rate of 0.0005 in . per hour [ 2] for the
first 10 minutes. Copper plating baths are inex -10
10
pensive, easy to prepare and require little main START 20 30 40 50
tenance , hence adapt themselves well to electro TIME -DAYS
plating circuits printed in silver. A procedure
followed in increasing the thickness of the coating FIGURE 13. Change of resistance of printed resistor with
is first to plate the initial silver layer with copper time
and then add a final silver coating over the cop Typical result obtained on test of 100, 1 -megohm resistors .
per. This facilitates soft soldering direct to the
leads .
Other metals may be plated directly on the sil tirely in the skin of the conductor, the tinned
ver if desired. Good results are obtained by dip coating on top of the silver forces the currents to
ping the printed plate into a dilute sulfuric acid flow partially in the silver layer and partially in
bath and rinsing with water, then plating. It is the higher resistance skin of the solder. To avoid
clear thatthe materials in the plating bath should this loss of Q, a protective coating of lacquer is put
be selected so as not to attack either the base ma over the inductors that prevents tinning during
terial or any of the paint constituents. the solder dip.
The solder bath is prepared as follows. The
10. External Connections solder 16 is first made molten by heating to 200° C.
A layer of opal wax is then formed over the solder,
External leads and tubes may be soldered di after which polypale rosin is melted in the liquid.
rectly to the silver or to eyelets on which the silver In this manner, three layers are formed. As the
wiring terminates, providing a solder having unit is dipped into the bath, the rosin cleans the
about 2 percent of silver to saturate against fur parts to be soldered ; the second layer, the opal
ther absorption of silver is used . wax, forms a protective film to prevent the solder
A solder dipping technique may be used for sol from adhering to the prelacquered resistors and
dering tubes and external leads to the printed cir inductors ; the third layer, the solder, attaches the
cuits. The tube leads are placed in holes or eye units to their position . Upon removal from the
lets at which the printed wiring terminates. The solder bath, the unit is shaken to remove excess
assembly is heated in air at approximately 230 ° C solder, then dipped in solvents to remove the ex
and then dipped into a solder bath at 200° C for cess rosin and wax .
about 20 seconds. When withdrawn , the terminal The technique of soldering by dipping subjects
and tube leads are neatly soldered in place and, the resistors to a thermal shock of 200 ° C. A re
in fact, a thin layer of solder coats all of the sult typical of 100 1 -megolm resistors is shown in
printed silver leads. At low frequencies, this extra figure 13 , in which the resistance decreased 8 per
coating on the leads has the same effect as plating, cent during a 20 -day period after dipping and
e increased current carrying capacity as well
i . e., thereafter increased about 1 percent in 25 days.
as conductance. If the assembly has painted re In some cases it may be advisable to use induc
sistors, the protective lacquer covering usually ap tion heating for soldering operations. High - fre
plied to them after painting keeps them from be quency induction heating adapts itself well to
coming coated with solder. When the wiring con soldering the thin capacitors usually employed
tains high -frequency inductors, the solder coating with printed circuits, also for soldering other
has been found to increase the losses in the induc leads to the base plate. By using high frequency,
tors, i . e., decrease the Q of the inductors. This heat will be generated in the thin silver layers as
may be
be due
due to a combination of increased capaci
tance between turns as well as decreased average well as in the solder and leads in the junction, thus
conductance of the leads at high frequencies. If producing a more ideal bond.
the frequencies are such that the current flows en 16 63 percent lead , 37 percent tin .

III . Spraying
1. Metal and Paint Spraying at the proper temperature prior to injection into
the compressed air stream .
A. Techniques and Apparatus Molten metal may be sprayed on wood , bake
lite, plastic, and even ceramic surfaces. Manu
Spraying of conducting films on insulating sur facturers of high voltage insulators have long
faces, like the spraying of ordinary lacquers and employed the techniques to coat the insulators in
paints, not only has popular appeal but is fairly order to distribute the electric field properly over
easy to adapt to production line practice.17 The the surface. Experience gained in this practice is
practice of spraying metallic and carbon paint directly applicable to printing circuits. Adher
onto insulating surfaces through stencils has been ence of the sprayed metal to the surface is entirely
used with success. The same paints are used as mechanical, and hence, not as strong as when the
for the stencilled -screen process. Special equip metal is fused on . The adhesion on ceramics may
ment is unnecessary , the ordinary lacquer spray be improved by glazing [4 ] the surface prior to
ing equipment being completely satisfactory. BY roughening it . Further increase in adhesion may
usinga spray gun with a properly controlled spray be had by using a glaze containing metallic par
pattern and with the work attached to a moving ticles. The adhesive strength of sprayed silver on
conveyor belt ( 20 to 30 ft. per min ) a good degree ceramics is greater than sprayed copper. In order
of uniformity may be obtained in the spraying to take advantage of this and the greater economy
assembly. Spray guns which automatically stir of copper, it is frequent practice to spray a thin
the paint in the container, such as those employing layer of silver followed by a thicker layer of cop
suction feed with the container adjacent to the gun per to obtain the desired conductance.
are recommended . In spraying resistors, the erec Helical resistors for electric heating are made
trical values may be controlled by means of the by setting up a metal spray gun on the carriage of
conveyor belt speed as well as regulating the flow a lathe and spraying a helix on a ceramic tube,
of the material from the gun . In addition to using the thread cutting mechanism of the lathe
paints, molten streams of metal may be sprayed [29 ]. No stencil is required , but the spray gun
directly through circuit locating stencils. The beam must be defined by a suitable aperture.
metal may be supplied to the spray gun in either In aа German plant [ 30] , resistors were made by
wire, powder, or liquid form . Precautions must spraying a mixture of graphite and ceramic flux
be taken to prevent the films from being coarse, on a porcelain body and firing at 900 ° C for 2
thick, and nonhomogeneous and to adhere strongly minutes. A colloidal graphite known as Hydro
to the surface. The latter is accomplished by kollag was used, dissolved in water. The ceramic
roughening such as by spraying with an abrasive flux was composed of :
material or by treating the surface with special Red lead . 30%
lacquers. [25 ] Sodium silico fluoride_ 23%
Spraying apparatus must be provided that will Zinc oxide_ 10%
10%
raise the metal to molten form . Suitable guns are Feldspar ( Swedish )
Kaolin 2%
available commercially. The wire gun is very Sodium titanium silicate 20 %
convenient as it allows spraying almost any type Other 5%
of metal that can be supplied in the form of wire. These materials were first fused to molten glass,
The metal is heated in the gun by means of a hy
drogen acetylene or other flame . Compressed air then quenched in water and ground to a very fine
is usually employed to atomize the melted metal powder. For resistances from 40 to 1,000 ohms,
and drive it over to the work. If metal powder à ratio of ten parts of flux, one part of Hydro
is used, a special injector is required to feed the kollag and one part ( by weight) of water was
powder to the flame. The molten metal gun con used . Higher values , up to 10,000 megohms, were
tains a heated chamber that maintains the metal made by adding a filled such as lampblack in
proper proportion and by slight variations in the
17 Another method of circuit wiring in two dimensions that ac above ratio constituents . A graphite layer of ap
complishes the same results as spraying is a die - casting process
wherein the system of conductors is die-cast [ 26 , 27 , 28 ] instead
proximately r0.002 in. was spray
l
ed on for the
of sprayed into the desired pattern on an insulated base. The base lower resisto values. Severa used .
coats were
plate may be of any suitable material that will stand the tem After firing, the resistors were coated with lac
perature , such as certain plastics, phenolics, or ceramics . Re
cesses for he conductors are molded into the base plate and an quer and baked at 150 ° C for 4 hours.
alloy chosen for the conductors which expands on cooling, so that A conducting pattern having good adhesion
the finished product is a compact solid unit. In one method, a
low melting point alloy ( less than 500 ° C ) is forced into re
cesses in the base plate under pressure. The metal is at a tem
may be applied to hard or smooth surfaces by a
perature near its melting point and is either in a liquid or plastic
state . Soldering lugs , tube sockets, switches or other inserts may
method analogous to that used in the manufacture
be installed and the metal cast around them . If the lugs are of printer's letter press plates [ 25 ]. The desired
tinned and if the die - casting material alloys with the tin , a
soldered joint is made which provides good electrical contact and pattern is printed on the surface using a muffle
mechanical strength . lacquer, i. e.e , one having either an urea -aldehyde
then placed over the chassis and molten silver or
0 copper sprayed into the grooves. On hardening,
the metal provides the connections between parts.
A layer of 0.002 in. to 0.005 in. thick is built up .
The process combines the complete wiring and
coldering of all components of the electronic chas
sis. Standard capacitors and inductors are used,
1160
although spiral inductors, especially in the high
frequency range, may be sprayed on in this man
ner. This method, treated in patents issued over
OTC 17 years ago,, has been adoptedby some radio and
television manufacturers.
Another example of this practice [ 34] is to
spray the circuit wiring onto an insulating sur
face through a stencil and to connect ordinary
components such as inductors and capacitors
thereto by soldering or by attaching to terminals.
This practice has been used in making small filter
panels in large quantities. Manufacturers em
ploying the popular spraying methods have in
troduced many variations such as using a protec
tive stencil made of masking tape [33 ]. This tape
has an adhesive on one side and is easily applied
to the surface. It is strong enough to protect the
face of the insulating surface from the effects of
sand blasting and metallizing. Stencils are pro
0 " 1" duced rapidly by die -cutting in continuous strips.
The extra components such as sockets, resistors,
FIGURE 14. Electronic items made by abrasive spray inductors, capacitors, and special terminals may
process. be assembled on one side of a panel prior to sand
Top and center, radio sonde commutators ; lower left, VHF blasting. The contacts of these components are
inductor ; lower right, center- tapped resistor . lead through the panel and appear in grooves
formed by the sand blasting procedure. These
resin or phenolic aldehyde resin base, modified contacts or terminals are roughened during the
by china wood oil and colophony. After printing, sand blasting, thus contributing to a better bond
but while the lacquer is still sticky , a layer of with the sprayed conductor. No soldering is re
metal powder is dusted on . The lacquer is hard quired . The procedure is applicable to both sides
ened by heating to 170 ° C for 1 hour. A layer of the insulating plate. Conductors on oppo
of the same metal is then sprayed over the hard site sides of the plate may be connected by metal
ened metallized lacquer. The adhesion of this eyelets or similar means inserted prior to sand
metal layer is said to be three to seven times as blasting
great as that obtained by sand blasting the surface Another novel method adaptable to electronic
and directly spraying metal on without the lac wiring involves " spraying-off the metal from a
quer. The pattern may be built up by plating or metal -plated plastic to leave the desired circuit
spraying other metals to any required thickness. wiring:18 A plastic or other insulator having on
In variations of the process, the sprayed metal its surface a thin evaporated coating of metal
may be applied prior to hardening the lacquer. such as silver or copper is coated with a photo
After hardening the unit may be dipped into an sensitive material. The material is then exposed
alloy of lead, tin and cadmium at 120° C to de to light through a shield or photographic negative
posit the conducting layer. bearing the pattern of the circuit desired . The
photosensitive material is developed in such a
B. Abrasive Spraying Methods fashion that the areas exposed to light are removed.
The remaining portions of the fixed photographic
In one of the simpler methods of spraying material act as a protective resist so that when the
molten metal, a plastic base plate is used [31 , 32, surface is exposed to a spray of abrasive material,
33 ] . Shallow grooves are cut into the chassis the metal isremoved from all parts not covered
by sand blasting, using a mask with lines cut out by the resist. Using this method, circuit wiring
where connections are to be made. Following this, may be printed with a dimensional tolerance of
all component parts are placed either on the +0.0002 in .
chassis or within the surface with their leads and
terminals set in the grooves. The second mask is 18 Kenyon Instrument Co. , Inc.

The process is applicable for circuit wiring lowed by burnishing and aging. Resistors up to
including inductors. It may also be used to 1 watt capacity are printed.
trace out contacting segments and other related Eighty hand- soldered connections are avoided
components of electric systems such as radio sonde by this method in the small setmanufactured . The
elements. Figure 14 shows four items produced need for hand assembly of thirty components is
in this manner . The two at the top are radio eliminated. A special feature of the apparatus is
sonde commutators on a phenolic base. The lower that each operation is controlled separately by
left is a spiral inductor on plastic ; the component electronic circuits and operates only on the arrival
at the right is an 1800 -ohmresistor on bakelite. of a panel. Should two successive panels be re
jected in the automatic test at any point along the
2. Spraying- Milling Technique line, all previous operations are held up until a
personal inspection is made. All panels beyond
A significant step in the application of printed that point are continued on to completion.
circuit techniques to the production of radio sets
has been madeby the development in England of a 3. Electrostatic Spraying
completely automatic apparatus for wiring panels
[ 8] . Known as the Electronic Circuit Making A novel method of electrostatic spraying may
Equipment, it is a spraying-milling technic de find application in electronic circuit work [ 12].
signed for automatic manufacture of panels for a In this method, the work is carried on a con
small alternating current-direct current line-oper veyor belt between electrodes charged to high po
ated broadcast - receiver set. A plastic plate is uti tential, of the order of 100,000 v direct current.
lized into which has been molded indentations to The work is at ground potential. Paint is sprayed
provide capacitors, inductors, and mountings for into the area between the electrodes . The finely
atomized particles of paint become charged with
other components. The plate is fed into an auto the same polarity as the electrodes. Electrostatic
matic machine which sand-blasts both sides, force then pulls them strongly toward the work,
sprays the surfaces with zinc, mills the surfaces to
remove the surplus layer of metal, tests the result
which is at ground potential and located within
the sprayingzone. Smooth and uniform deposi
ing circuit, sprays on graphite resistors through tion of paint over the entire surface is possible
stencils, inserts tube sockets and miscellaneous with proper design. Very little paint is wasted as
small hardware, tests the unit again and applies a paint particles which would normally miss the
protective coating over the panel, all at the rate of work change their course and return to it because
a 7 -in. panel each 20 seconds. Tubes, electrolytic of the electric charge on them. In the printed cir
capacitors, loudspeakers, etc., are attached in the cuit application, the plates on which the paint is
standard manner. Sockets, switches and variable to be sprayed would be nonconductors. In order
capacitors are eyeletted in place. to attract the ionized paint particles to the work
The circuit wiring and inductors are determined the plates to be paintedwould be laid upon an elec
by grooves moldedin the original plastic plate. trically grounded metal mesh belt.
Inductors, for example, are spiral grooves that
are filled with metal during the spraying process. 4. Chemical Spraying
Capacitors are formed by leaving thin webs in the
mold when making up the original plate and spray Spraying of silvering solutions is accomplished
ing metal on both sides of the web in the regular by using a dual orifice spray gun . One orifice
spraying operation. For large capacitors, the ejects the silvering solution and the second sprays
whole base plate is molded using a high dielectric the reducing solution. The solutions leave the
constant plastic filler. Inductors, capacitors, and nozzles so that they are thoroughly mixed before
wiring are all formed by the same spraying opera reaching the insulating surface . More complex
tion. After the sprayed metal has dried , the top solutions may be handled by multiple-nozzle spray
layer is milled off leaving the circuit properly guns [35] , or a single-nozzled unit may be used
defined. Resistors are then added by spraying on a in which the solutions are mixed just prior to
dispersed graphite solution through a stencil fol entering the nozzle.
IV. Chemical Deposition

The methods in this classification involve the sons a separate classification is preferred. The
deposition of metallic films on an insulating sur chemical methods described in this section, in gen
face by the reduction of metallic salts in solution . eral , are not as simple to apply as the paints. The
Although much of the material described under silvering solutions must be handled properly by
section II might properly be grouped under the experienced personnel. They have had wide ap
heading of chemical methods, for practical rea plication to silvering mirrors and various types of
glass vessels and in preparing nonmetallic mate ranges and other uses. Usually, however, such
rials for electroplating . metallic salts produce high resistance films, and
One of the principal methods [5 ] of chemical as such may be used to produce resistors of limited
deposition is that in which a silvering solution is wattage.
made up by adding ammonia to aa solution of silver Lead -sulfide infrared photoelectric cells [ 3]
nitrate,19 This silvering solution is then mixed are made by chemically precipitating lead sul
with a reducing solution prepared, for example, fide onto the supporting glass between parallel
by dissolving cane sugar in water and adding metal electrodes. The electrodes, which are of
nitric acid.20 The mixture is poured over the in interest here, consist of a large number of alternate
sulating surface, the latter bearing a stencil with layers of gold and platinum. They are deposited
the circuit pattern in it . As the silver precipitates by applying chloride solutions of the metal be
from the mixture, it deposits uniformly over the lieved to be made by dissolving the chlorides in
surface.21 Removal of the stencil leaves the wir natural oil of lavender and alcohol and adding
ing pattern desired . The stencil should not be some pitch for stickiness. On heating, the chlo
affected adversely by the mixture, should be de rides are reduced to metal . The procedure is re
signed so that it will adhere closely to the sur peated with the opposite metal to obtain alternate
face, and so that it may be removed by peeling layers.
off or by evaporation at low temperature. As in the other methods, best results are ob
The films formed are very thin and cannot be tained if the surface is first cleaned properly.
soldered to directly. They may be built up by General procedures for cleaning are described
repeating the silvering process as often as desired. elsewhere in this paper. Strong, uniform adher
For high conductance the circuit may be plated. ence to glass surfaces has been obtained by first
The bond between the deposited film and surface tinning the glass, that is by lightly swabbing it
is entirely mechanical, there being no chemical with a 10 percent solution of tin -chloride [ 6 , 38 ).
combination with the surface, consequently the Lead acetate, thorium nitrate, or other salts of
adherence is less than is obtained by the firing metal that are srongly adsorbed by the glass may
processes . be used [38 ]. This practice should be useful in
Additional details on the silvering processes, in applying electronic circuits to the glass envelopes
cluding many variations of the chemicals em of vacuum tubes.
ployed, as well as the processes, may be found Special treatment is necessary in order to apply
scattered profusely throughout the literature the chemical reduction methods to plastics. For
[ 5, 6, 7, 36, 37 ]. Not only silver films but those of good adherence, the surface should be roughened
copper, nickel, gold, iron and other metals and either chemically as by etching,or mechanically by
those of alloys such as silver-copper may be de a careful abrasive treatment. A method that
posited on nonmetallic surfaces by chemical meth hasproven successful for preparing methyl metha
ods. An interesting variation is offered by the crylates (Lucite, Plexiglas,etc.) for silvering con
possibility of selecting the metallic salts so that sists in treating the surface with sodium hydroxide
metal films of different colors are deposited, thus for 12 to 48 hours. This renders the surface recep
allowing the printing of colored electronic cir tive to silver [ 35 ] so that when the silvering mix
cuits. Circuits of different colors may be used for ture is poured over it, a firmly adhering metal film
identifying different sections in a multisection results . Several variations of this method also
unit, for classifying as to frequency and volume have been described [6 ].
The chemical deposition methods, although used
19 Silver nitrate is dissolved in water and precipitated in hy extensively in the manufacturing of mirrors and
droxide form , using an alkaline hydroxide such as sodium or other products, may currently be classified in the
ammonium hydroxide. The precipitate is automatically redis
solved in the solution by using an excess of the alkaline realm of laboratory methods not fully developed
hydroxide.
20 Nitric acid inverts the sugar to dextrose and levulose. for mass production of printed electronic circuits.
Formaldehyde, rochelle salts, sodium , or potassium tartrate or Their position, however, is similar to that of some
tartaric, citric or tannic acid also serve satisfactorily as reducing
agents.
21 The alkaline silver solutions should not be allowed to evap
of the vacuum processes described herein , which
orate and form dry residues, as there is danger of explosion . only a short time ago were considered strictly
They should be mixed only as needed . Unused solutions should be small-scale methods but today are used to produce
treated by adding hydrochloric acid , which precipitates the silver
and removes the danger [ 5 ] . electrical components by the millions.
V. Vacuum Processes
Another set of techniques employed to produce fairly similar. In the sputtering process,the metal
metallic layers on nonmetallic surfaces that may to be volatilized is made the cathode and the ma
be adapted to electronic wiring are those of cathode terial to be coated the anode. A high voltage is
sputtering and evaporation [ 7] . The methods are applied between them after evacuation . Metal
emitted from the cathode is attracted to the plate able thicknesses of metal. For conductor wiring,
by maintaining the plate at positive potential. In this is not a serious matter as in general the con
the evaporation process, the metal is heated in a ductance is sufficient so that variations in it pro
vacuum to a temperature at which it evaporates duce negligible effects on circuit performance.
onto the work located nearby. Both sputtering and evaporation will adapt them
selves well to coating circuit wiring on inside sur
1. Cathode Sputtering faces of housings to which a protective mask or
stencil may
may be applied.
Cathode sputtering is probably the oldest of the
methods for depositing metals on a surface in a 2. Evaporation
vacuum . The necessity forworking with a vacuum
appears to pose a major obstacle to mass produc The lesser complexity of the evaporation proc
tion . A closer study will show, however, that the ess and the possibility of evaporating uniform
films of metal on nonmetallic surfaces has led to
difficulties are not substantially greater than those its general adoption by industry. One of the prin
attending processes requiring heating of the work
to fusing or firing temperatures. Vacuum methods cipal applications at present is to the production
of paper capacitors. Thin aluminum or zinc films
of silvering mirrors are now employed on a mass evaporated onto impregnated paper now yield
productionscale. capacitors not only of miniature size but having
In both the sputtering and evaporation proc other valuable properties such as the self-healing ;
esses, the work is covered with a suitable circuit i. e .,, theabilityto remove short-circuits automati
defining stencil and placed in the chamber opposite cally. These capacitors are made on a large scale
the cathode. For sputtering, the chamber is evacu using mass production techniques.
ated to a pressure of the order of 0.001 mm of No high voltage source is needed for the evapo
mercury. Higher pressures may be used in certain ration. The metal is simply heated in a vacuum
cases . These pressures may be obtained with a until it vaporizes onto the work. The properties
good mechanical pump. The shape of the cathode of the metal layers deposited do not differ prac
that is made of the metal to be sputtered may take tically from those applied by the sputtering
on any convenient form. It may be in the form of method. Adhesion is about the same, although not
a straight wire, a wire grid or a thin sheet. If the as strong as that obtained by the fusing methods.
work occupies a large area, more than one cathode Pressures of the order of 0.001 to 0.00001 mm are
may be necessary. To obtain a uniform deposition usually employed . For best results the pressure
of metal on the work, the cathode and work should must be reduced until the molecular mean free
be placed as nearly parallel to each other as pos path equals or exceeds the maximum internal di
sible. Optimum spacing is determined experi mension of the chamber.
mentally and may be of the order of 1/2 to 6 in . The arrangement of the apparatus is similar to
A practical arrangement would be to have the that for cathode sputtering. Tungsten filaments
cathode located over the work that lies on a hori may be used. The metal is placed directly on the
zontal metal anode. The latter is charged to a filaments in the form of small hairpins or wire.
potential varying from 500 to 20,000 v, depending The tungsten filaments are heated by electric cur
on the space and the pressure. Direct current is rent until the metal hairpins or wires are vapor
preferred with the plate at positive potential, al ized and the molecules transported to the target
though pulsating direct current or alternating cur plate. Other shapes of filaments may be employed ,
rent may be used. The high voltage may be ob such as flat plates shaped in the form of a trough
tained from a neon lighting transformer as the or carrying dents to hold the metal to be evapo
currents required are very small . rated [7] . For evaporating aluminum , filaments
Any of a large number of metals may be used have been used with the aluminum prefused to the
for sputtering, including silver, copper, platinum , to use twisted
tungsten . Another variation ismetal
gold, etc. A vapor of metal is formed that com strands of filament wire with the be evap
to
pletely coats the work , including its protective orated appearing as one or more of the twisted
stencil . In both sputtering and evaporation , the strands in parallel with the real filament. A vari
practice is confined to producing very thin films ation that might be classified as a combination of
that may later be plated to achieve the desired sputtering and evaporation is to replace the fila
conductance. Electrically conducting films as ment with an arc formed between rods of the metal
thin as 0.1 + 10– 6 in . may be deposited satisfacto to be evaporated. On forming the arc, the metal
rily although for electronic circuits it is desirable is vaporized. The practice is similar to that of the
to make the film thicker so that satisfactory elec carbon - arc lamp, except that the operation is car
troplating may be achieved without difficulty. ried out in vacuum. Although not necessary, ap
As the thickness of the layer deposited depends plication of a high potential to the work, as is
on the spacing between the cathode and article, done in cathode sputtering, may improve results
irregular shaped objects will be covered with vari with this method.

Practically all metals may be evaporated, the and coated simultaneously either by the evaporat
principal requirement being that their vaporizing ing or sputtering process.
point fall below the melting point of the filament. Electric shields and other equipment have been
The practice has been used successfully to evapo made up by evaporating aluminum onto a non
rate films of copper, silver, iron, platinum , lead, conductingsurface. After the proper conductive
aluminum, gold, and tin. Table 5 shows evapora layer has been achieved, air is allowed to enter
tion temperatures of the metals [7] . the chamber while the evaporation continues.
Thus, a thin layer of aluminum oxide is formed
TABLE 5.-Evaporation temperature of metals over the conducting surface to provide a good in
sulator. Practices such as these are forerunners
Evapor
ation
Evapor
ation
of new printed circuit techniques.
Metal
Metal
Temper Temper A German method of coating the inner surface
ature a ature a
of a flourescent screen with a very thin film of
° C. ° C.
aluminum [3 ] embodies principles of interest to
Mercury 47 Lead 727 printed circuit investigators. The film serves as
160 Tin . 875
Cesium
Rubidium 177 Chromium 917 a reflector of light behind the screen yet must al
Potassium 207 | Silver
268 Gold ..
1 , 046
1 , 172
low electrons to pass through it without too much
Cadmium
Sodium . 292 Aluminum 1, 188 loss in velocity. The technique of producing this
1 , 269
Zinc.
Magnesium
350
439
Copper
Iron. 1 , 421 film is rather delicate. The first step is to form a
Strontium . 538 Nickel 1 , 444
2, 059
thin water insoluble film of organic material, such
Lithium 548 Platinum
Calcium 605 | Molybdenum 2 , 482 as collodion, paraffin or an acetate, over a thin
632 (Carbon ) 2, 522
Barium
Bismuth 640 | Tungsten . 3, 232 layer of water covering the screen . This is done
Antimony 700
by placing a small amount of liquid solution of
the material on the water. The solvent evaporates
a Temperature at which vapor pressure equals 10–2 mm of mercury. and leaves a thin , smooth film on the water. After
a drying process, the film drops snugly onto the
screen . The aluminum is then evaporated onto
Although the metals attached to the filament
will melt just before evaporating, they are held to this film of organic material. When the tube is
the filament by surface tension. As silver and processed later, the heating breaks down the or
copper do not wet the tungsten filament very well, ganic film , which is vaporized and pumped out,
tantalum or molybdenum may be substituted when leaving the aluminum film attached to the fluores
cent screen .
using these metals.
Thermal evaporation may be accomplished in a
more practical way without the use of electric fila 3. Resistors
ments. The simplest method is to place the metal
in a vessel and heat it to vaporizing temperature. The thin films formed by sputtering or evapora
The heat may be applied either by means of a tion may also serve as resistors.22 In this case,
flame or by induction heating [40, 41] . In the plating is not used . The approximate resistance
induction heating method, the metal may be may be calculated from the resistivity of the metal
placed in an insulated crucible either in the form evaporated and its dimensions. Stencils are used
of powder or larger granules or as a chemical to confine the metal to the proper position and
compound and the induction coils placed around area desired. Wave guide attenuators have been
the crucible . Heat generated in the metal by eddy made in this way by evaporating a very thin film
currents causes a it to be melted. The plates to of nichrome on pyrex or soft plate glass. In one
be coated may be placed upside down on a sup process [42] the nichrome film is covered with a
porting grid over the crucible . Metal stencils or
masks may be used. Mica sheets have also proven protective layer of magnesium fluoride applied
satisfactory . If handled properly, the masks may directly to the nichrome film while the chamber
be used over again, cleaning being accomplished is still evacuated. The protective layer prevents
by washing in dilute nitric acid . The use of a oxidation and corrosion of the resistance film .
shadow stencil, that is a single stencil perman The low temperature coefficient of the nichrome is
ently placed over the crucible to throw a shadow preserved in this method.
pattern of metal over the plate to be coated, may Accurately defined areas may be coated by the
prove satisfactory. Obvious and perhaps difficult 22 Carbon film resistors on ceramic rods have also been produced
precautions attend this method . by cracking hydrocarbons at high temperature. Resistors with
temperature coefficient of the order of 0.1 percent per degree
The practice of evaporation is not limited to centrigrade are made this way. The resistance film is formed by
small assemblies. Long used to silver or chro cracking vaporized_benzol in a carbon dioxide atmosphere at
950 ° C. This produces a carbon film approximately 0.0004 in.
mium plate mirrors, vacuum chambers have been thick on the ceramic rod. Carbon dioxide is used to improve the
uniformity of the carbon film . It is reported that 80 percent of
built to handle work several square feet in area. If the resistors fall within plus or minus 20 percent . tolerance
the electronic subassemblies are small, a number of limits. Values up to 2 megohms have been produced . The re
sistance is controlled by the volume of benzol used and the oven
them may be placed on the tray in the chamber temperature.

evaporation process thus improving the uniformi deposited the bridge indicator drops gradually
ty of the resistors. A practice that works well until the precise resistance is attained, at which
when the number of resistors to be evaporated time the evaporator is automatically shut off.
onto an insulating panel is small, is to wire the The resistor in figure 14 was applied by evaporat
panel to a resistance bridge. As the resistor is ing silver onto bakelite.
VI . Die- Stamping
1. Preformed Conductors steel die with a continuous helical cutting edge.
The latter is in the form of convolutions of grad
In the production of electronic assemblies for ually decreasing diameter. In a single stroke the
certain types of proximity fuzes during the war, die cuts the metal sheet and attaches it to the
it was found advantageous to preform the con panel. The metal foil is coated on one side with a
necting wires and component leads. These were thermoplastic cement. The heated die sets the
dropped into position in a plastic chassis in such cement. The result is a combined antenna and
a manner that all terminals requiring soldering back or housing for a receiver. The shape of the
appeared opposite each other. Soldering of the die is such that not only is the metal cut, but a cross
terminals completed the assembly. section will show it to be arcuated and thus ap
Similar methods have been employed success proximately a semicylindrical hollow conductor.
fully elsewhere in industry. Punch presses are The die may also be v instead of arc -shaped.
used to preform stiff copper wires into shape. The The severed edges are separated, leaving an air
formed wires are automatically dropped in a jig gap between theturns. Pressed fibreboard, wood,
containing all the electrical components. A mul plastic, Lucite, and a wide variety of materials
tiple welding device is lowered and all junctions may be used for the supporting panel.
are spot welded in one or two operations. The Compared with the conventional solenoid or
mechanization is carried a step further by feed basket-weave types of loop antennas, this stamped
ing the electrical components into the jig by means embossed design not only is more economical but
of properly designed hoppers or with pneumatic has comparable or better electrical performance
guns.
Thin copper strips can be substituted for the [44] . For radio receiver application, the usual
insulation between turns is omitted , resulting in
leads in the previous operation. They may be die lower distributed capacity and higher effective Q
stamped into the same form as the preformed
leads and welded in the same manner. Strips are than the other types. The dielectric and loss fac
coated with an insulating lacquer to prevent short tors of the panel material, of course, have an im
circuits in cross -over. One manufacturer punches
a grid out of 146 in. copper plate. After silver
plating, the grid is placed over an array of pro
jecting lugs attached to various electrical com
ponents . It is soldered to all the lugs in a single
automatic operation. Those parts of the grid not
desired are clipped out and the remainder form
the complete wiring of a telephone set .
Metalfoil, eitherplain or paper -backed, may be
:::
used for stamping out the complete wiring for the
electronic circuit. To avoid damaging the foil
when complex circuits are stamped from thin metal
sheets, the stamping may be carried out in two or
or more operations, using metal dies in parallel.
High-frequency induction heating methods may be
used to solder leads to the foil.
2. Stamped -embossing
Radio set manufacturers are now employing
spiral loop antennas die -stamped from a copper
or aluminum sheet a few thousandths of an inch
thick [43]. One design shown in figure 15 is
formed by feeding into an automatic punch press
a composition or plastic panel with the metalsheet FIGURE 15. Loop antennas stamped from single pieces of
over it. The press has a vertical reciprocating sheet copper onto insulated bases.

portant effect on the Q because the panel is situated the pressure and heat from the die have been ap
in the field of the inductor . Not only antennas but plied, and can be brushed away at other places,
high - frequency inductors, electrostatic shields and leaving a pattern of conductors. Samples pro
similar electronic equipment may be manufactured duced for the Bureau using gold foil were very
by this process. satisfactory. The resistors may be applied in the
A similar development [ 45 ] may beused for cir same way using resistor material deposited on a
cuit wiring. A thin sheet of insulating material film of plastic previous to the hot stamping opera
has aa series of parallel conductors fastened to it by tion. As foils as thick as 0.002 in . may be used,
the stamping process described above. The other very good electrical properties are obtained, par
side has a similar series at right angles. The cir ticularly with inductors made by this method.
cuit is made by making connections through the Other components to complete the electronic cir
plate at appropriate places by eyelets or pins. cuit may be added by riveting, soldering or spot
Tube sockets and components may be fastened welding .
in place by similar methods. It is possible to produce a strongly adhering
metal film on rubber by placing metal foil
3. Hot Stamping ( stamped in any desired configuration) in a mold
with the rubber and vulcanizing [46 ]. When the
foil is removed, a layer of metal sulfide is left on
The hot stamping process used in the marking the rubber sharply defined by the foil contour.
of leather and plastic materials lends itself to the The surface is then treated with aa reducing agent
mechanization of electronic circuit manufacture. such as by immersing in a copper cyanide bath.
In this method a hot die engraved with the pattern Thus, the sulfide is converted to metal that may
of the conductors, including inductors, is pressed be used with or without plating. In place of the
onto the plastic with a thin sheet of gold, silver foil, silver oxide paint may be painted or sprayed
or other conducting foil between the hot die and on the rubber through a stencil. It is reduced in
the plastic. The foil adheres to the plastic where the same manner after vulcanization .
VII. Dusting
The dusting techniques lend themselves favor Another way of dusting an electrical circuit
ably to the printing of electronic circuits. Tung onto a nonconducting surface is to sprinkle athin
sten and molybdenum powder have been used to layer of metal powder through a thin noninflam
metallize ceramic bodies by dusting the powder and mable stencil. The metal is melted by flashing a
binder on the surface and firing. In electroplat flame over the stencil. Such a technique requires
ing nonconducting materials, metal powders have expert care in applying, hence its practicability
been used to form a conducting film for the plat may be limited .
ing. An initial layer of bonding material or ad An electrophotographic method has been de
hesive ink holds the powder in place. It is ap veloped [ 48] to hold the powder to the surface
plied with a rubber stamp or by similar printing in the proper pattern prior to flashing. It is ap
means [47 ]. plicable to any of the usual nonconducting sur
To extend the technique to printing circuits, faces, including paper . The surface is first coated
somewhat the same procedure is followed. A suit with a 1 mil layer of photoconductive material
able bonding material is selected such as shellac, such as sulfur or anthracene, then placed under
wax or any of the synthetic resins, dissolved in al an electrostatic charging device. The electrostatic
cohol or benzine and sprayed or painted onto the field introduces a charge on the photosensitive
surface. A stencil bearing the circuit pattern is material. Exposure to light through a positive
placed over it and leafed silver powder dusted on . photograph of the circuit desired removes the
A variation is to apply the bonding material in charge from that portion of the photosensitive
stead of the paint through the stencil. The material illuminated and leaves an electrostatic
powder is sprinkled on after the stencil is re latent image. A mixture of leafed silver powder
moved and while the bonding surface remains and a binder dusted onto the surface adheres only
somewhat tacky. The bonding film should be kept to the charged image. Flashing with aa flame melts
as thin as possible, consistent with absorbing
enough metal to yield the desired conductivity. the silver into place, completing the wiring.
The unit is then subjected to a temperature that If after the silver is dusted over the plate, a
drives off the bonding material and fuses the metal paper sheet is placed on top and the combination
to the plate. If the bonding material is mixed inserted into another charging field, the paper at
with the powder and applied, it must have enough tracts the metal powder and holds it securely until
of aа gummy property to adhere to the surface and it is flashed permanently into place. As many as
hold the metal powders in place. five copies can be made from one original. The
28 Circulars of the Vational Bureau of Standards
process appears to adapt itself to the manufacture after that time. Although some work has been
of printed circuit decalcomanias. Photosensitive done in applying electrophotography to printing
materials are available that hold their charge for electronic circuits,practical details have yet to be
as long as 500 hours and produce useful prints worked out.
VIII . Performance
1. Conductors usually flowing in low power electronic circuits.
However, as heating tends to loosen the bond be
The principal desirable characteristics of the tween the depositedmetal andthe plastic base, an
conductors are high conductance, adequate cur experimental determination of the current carry
rent carrying capacity and good adhesion to the ing capacity should be made for each particular
base plate. The resistance may be computed from case . Lower and more consistent values of resist
the cross section, length , and the specific resist ance are to be had simply by increasing the number
ance of the material ( 0.626 micro -ohm inch at of coats of paint or by plating.
20 ° C for pure silver) . The computed resistance In some cases , such as inductors that require a
is usually lower than themeasured value, depend high Q value, the resistance of the conductor
ing on the manner of application, the binders used , may not be low enough. It is quite practical to
and the type of drying or firing. For silver fired decrease the resistance to almost any desired value
on steatite, the measured resistance may be as by electroplating silver or other metals over the
much as twice the value computed for pure silver. conductor printed on the base material.
A silver conductor 0.062 in . wide and 0.0005 in .
.10
thick will have a computed resistance of0.02 ohm DIMENSIONS OF
per inch which is equivalent to number 36 copper 1
RESISTANCE
TEST CONDUCTOR :
LENGTH- 0.843 IN .
wire.23 The current carrying capacity of such .08)
WIDTH - 0.041 IN .
a conductor is more than sufficient for all cur THICKNESS - APPROX . 0.001 IN .
OHMS
INITIAL CONDITIONS :
rents used in low power electronic circuits. A .06 RESISTANCE - 0.028 OHM
-
TEMPERATURE - 27 ° C
silver conductor 0.125 in . wide and about 0.0005 in .
thick fired on steatite did not fuse until the current
.04
reached 18 amp, while another 0.0625 in. wide car
ried 8 amp for 9 minutes before fusing.
.02H
Figure 16 shows a loading curve for a typical
conductor on steatite having a length of 0.841 in.,
a width of 0.041 in . and an estimated thickness of 1.0 . 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0
0.001 in. Tests were made with the steatite plate CURRENT - AMPERES
in open air, without forced circulation . The cur
rent was allowed to flow for several hours at each FIGURE 16. Change in resistance with current of silver
conductor fired on steatite.
value or until no further increase in resistance
was observed. The conductor carried 8 amp Conductor patterns made by the spraying or
for several hours, showing an over-all increase in
resistance of 15 percent, but when the current was die-casting process have a large enough cross
increased to 9 amp it failed after 35 minutes . section so that their resistance will be low enough
This conductor has a current carryingcapacity even though the metal does not have as low a spe
equivalent to aa number 32 copper wire. This per cific resistivity as pure silver or copper. This may
formance shows the effect of the close thermal not be true for certain types of sprayed or die- cast
contact between the silver and the steatite base inductors, where if high Q is required it may be
material and the increased radiating properties of necessary to resort to silver plating. Circuits
the flat printed strip. For silver fired on steatite, made by the die -stamping process, where mate
the heat dissipating ability together with the short rials such as silver or copper of thickness in the
over -all length of the printed conductors make range of 0.002 in. to 0.005 in. are used, produce
them equivalent in performance to electronic cir inductors that are usually satisfactory without
cuits wired with conventional copper wire. further processing.
On plastic bases, where firing is not possible, 2. Resistors
the printed leads have a higher resistance. A lead
1 in . long and 5/64 in. wide showed a resistance of A. Load Characteristics
1/2 ohm and a current carrying capacity of only
12 amp before the plastic base softened and the Among the principal factors affecting thepower
silver peeled off. Even this exceeds the currents dissipated by a resistor are the paint mixture, the
base material on which it is printed, and the sur
23 Wire size numbers are AWG ( B & S ) . face area. The paint itself determines the maxi
RESISTANCE
INERCENT 3400
A TO 25 % AT 200 HOURS
CHANGE
+5
O
1.0 WATT LOAD
B B 3000
RESISTANCE
-
P
OHMS
2600 NOTE PRINTED RESISTORS OPENED UP
AT THIS POINT - INFINITE RESISTANCE
-
+6
0.5 WATT LOAD 2200
с PRINTED CARBON RESISTOR
0.09 ' , 0.25 "
1800
1400
B 0.25 WATT LOAD 0.25 WATT COMMERCIAL
CARBON RESISTOR
‫ܘ‬
‫܀‬
1000
100 150 200
8
600
TIME - HOURS 25 50 75 100
CURRENT - MILLIAMPERES
FIGURE 17. Load tests on printed and commercial carbon
resistors having a nominal value of 100,000 ohms. FIGURE 18. Comparison of current-carrying capacity of
Printed resistors were 0.38 in . long, 0.10 in . wide, and 0.002 average carbon resistor with 0.25 watt commercial car
in . thick . Curves A are for a commercial 0.25 -watt resistor, bon resistor .
curves B are for a 0.5-watt resistor, and curve C for a printed Both are nominally 1,500 ohms .
resistor .
mum temperature to which the resistor may safely printed resistors decreases 3 to 5 percent it soon
be raised; the composition of the base material, stabilizes at a constant value .
the area of the resistor, and to some extent its Typical results of another determination of
color, determine the rate at which the heat is con power dissipation are shown in figure 18. Two
ducted away. The close contact of the printed 1,500-ohm resistors, one printed, and one 0.25 watt
resistor with the base material in the case of glass fixed composition were subjected to increasing cur
or ceramic, prevents local heating and gives the rent until they failed. The current was increased
resistor better power dissipation than might be in small steps and allowed to stabilize at each
expected. Resistors painted on plastics tend to value before going to the next. Both resistors
loosen from the base material on heating, hence withstood 20 ma (0.6 watt) before any effective
must be operated at lower power levels. change in resistance took place. Further increase
Intermittent load tests of 1,000 hours duration in current caused both to increase in resistance
were made on several 12-megohm resistors painted rapidly, peaking at approximately 37 ma and then
on steatite. The load was applied for 1.5 hours decreasing. This increased current apparently
then turned off for 12 hour and the cycle repeated causes a change in some of the constituents of the
[49]. Commercial paint types 24 I and II were resistors. It is important to note that the printed
applied to make resistors 0.25 in. X 0.078 in. ( area resistor opened on excess current, whereas the
0.02 sq. in. ) . For paint type I and power loads of fixed composition resistor decreased in value. The
0.10 and 0.15 watt, after 1,000 hours of operation opening of the printed resistor under excess load
the resistance decreased 0.4 and 0.7 percent, re may bea desirable property as it will not sustain
spectively ; with resistors made of type II paint heavy overload currents with the consequent dam
the decrease was 10.0 and 12.0 percentrespectively. aging of other parts of the circuit. The conclusion
These tests illustrate the dependence of resistor to be reached from these tests is that printed re
performance on paint mix. sistors compare favorably under load with those
Although no standard method of rating the of the commercial fixed composition type.
printed resistors for power dissipation has yetbeen Asthe size of the printed resistors is not stand
established, it is important that steps be taken to ard, it is not practical to specify its power rating
do this soon. Figure 17 shows typical results of in terms of watts per resistor. It can be specified
an intermittent load test using higher wattages as watts per square inch of area exposed to the
than on the previous test and 100,000- ohm carbon air. In the first of the two tests reported above, an
resistors 0.002 in . thick and 0.038 sq in . area area of 0.038 sq in . dissipated 1 watt , giving a
( 0.1 in.x0.38 in.) painted on steatite. The resis dissipation of 26 watts per square inch, while in
tors were operated for 200 hours at loads of 0.25, the second test an area of 0.023 sq in. dissipated 0.6
0.50 and 1 watt respectively. As a control , com watt giving the same dissipation factor. This fac
mercial fixed composition 0.25 watt and 0.50 watt tor has been considered representative of average
carbon resistors were also subjected to the same performance.
loads. The curves show clearly that the printed Allowing a reasonable factor of safety, the car
resistors perform very well compared to the com bon resistors described above may be rated at 10
mercial resistors. Although the resistance of the watts per square inch . A 14-watt resistor will then
24 Data supplied by Centralab Division, Globe-Union, Inc. occupy an area of 0.025 sq in, and may be printed
on a strip 0.1 in. wide by 0.25 in. long. A strip and quantity of the ingredients. An example of
0.1 in. wide will have a power rating equal to the variations in behavior to be expected is shown
its length in inches. The power ratingcannot be by curve B in figure 19 obtained from resistors
applied generally to all types of printed resistors. made with the formula 12.5 percent of colloidal
Ratings of other types of printed resistors will graphite, 4.5 percent of lampblack and 83 percent
depend on the several factors outlined earlier. of Dow resin 993. The wide variation on the
same temperature cycling exposure may or may
B. Noise Characteristics not be considered desirable depending on the ap
Comparative noise measurements were made 25 plication. Where normally a flat temperature
between 1 -megohm resistors painted on steatite characteristic is desired, the shaped response of
and the quietest of the commercial, fixed composi formula B might be very useful in compensat
tion, cylindrical 0.5-watt carbon resistors. The ing against a negative temperature response
test was made by applying a 45-v direct-current caused by other elements in the circuit. It also
bias to the resistor andmeasuring the noise voltage. serves as an excellent temperature indicating ele
Using the commercial resistor as a reference, the ment over the range plotted and may find use in
devices such as the radio sonde . The resistance
noise levelof two painted resistors made with the temperature characteristics for a wide range of
commercial paint formula, type I was found to be
+3 and +5 db for resistors 0.375 in. x 0.94 in. and production line resistors painted on steatite are
0.25 in. x 0.78 in. respectively. When the paint shown in figure 20. Over the extreme temperature
range plotted , the maximum variation in resist
formula was altered to type II, the noise level of ance from the average is seen to be of the order
the 0.25 in . x 0.78 in . resistor increased from + 5 db
to +35 db, illustrating the need for careful formu of £ 5 percent .
Any particular formulation must be checked
lation when quiet resistors are desired. These re for its ability to adhere to the base material. This
sults are typical for these resistor paints. Type is usually done by temperature cycling tests. If
I paints may be used in hearing aids and other the conductor and resistor paints still adhere after
circuits of high gain level. Type II is satisfactory several temperature cyclesover a range exceeding
for low gain amplifiers and electronic control units. that to be encountered in practice, they may be
C. Temperature Caracteristics considered satisfactory.
The selection of a good resistance formula re 3. Capacitors
quires careful attention to the character, quality
100.0
The aging of titanium oxide ceramic capacitors
FORMULAA generally follows an exponential relation between
15 % GRAPHITE
9 % LAMPBLACK
time and capacitance. The constants depend on
29 % BAK . BL.- 68
the particular material used for the dielectric.
47 % BAK. THINNER The temperature coefficient of these capacitors
6.0
FORMULA " B " 5.5 5.3 MEGOHMS
12.5 % GRAPHITE 5.0
4.5% LAMPBLACK 2.2
83. 0 % RESIN 993 (DOW ) 2.0 2.0 MEGOHMS
RESISTANCE
10.0 1.8
-EGOHMS
1.0
0.83 MEGOHM
0.9
0.8
0.45
M
RESISTANCE
0.40 HA
0.42 MEGOHM
0.05
0.04
0.043 MEGOHM
B
0.03
500
1.0 450
475 OHMS
400!
14
10.8 OHMS
12
10
3.01
2.5 OHMS
-2.5
-50-40-30 -20 -10 O 10 20 30 40 50 60
2.0
TEMPERATURE- ° C -50 -25 o 25 50
FIGURE 19. Effect of composition on resistance -temperature TEMPERATURE- ° C
characteristics of printed resistors.
FIGURE 20. Resistance -temperature characteristics of
25 Data supplied by Centralab Division , Globe-Union , Inc. printed resistors .
31
2200
14,000
2000
1800
1600 2000 uut
CAPACITANCE
1400 12,000
1200
- uf
DIELECTRIC
H
CONSTANT
10,000
500
450
400 450 uut
8,000
55
50 50 доf
6,000
20
18 17 wut
16 4,000
-50 -25 25 50
TEMPERATURE- °C
FIGURE 21. Capacitance -temperature characteristics of
ceramic disk capacitors. 2,000
must be carefully chosen for the particular ap

plication. Some of the higher dielectric constant
-60 -40 -20 20
materials display peaks in their temperature- ca 0 40 60 80 100
pacitance curve. These peaks may change the
value of the capacitor by a factor of 5 or 10 and TEMPERATURE- ° C
FIGURE 22. An example of the sharp peaks in the dielectric
may be very sharp. They can often be shifted to constant-temperature characteristics of very high dielec
different temperature regions by a change in com tric constant ceramic capacitors.
position. These characteristics may be used in
providing temperature compensation for circuits than on small units of most other types, so that
where required. A variety of slopes are available for printed circuit applications capacitors of the
by properly choosing the composition. Typical usual thickness 0.02 in . to 0.04 in. have a working
temperature -capacitance curves are shown in fig voltage of 300 to 600 v direct current. Capacitors
ure 21 , and a sharper peaked curve of the type used in the ranges from 7 to 10,000 puf are readily man
for temperature compensation is shown in the di ufactured to tolerances of £ 5 percent, £ 10 per
electric constant-temperature curve of figure 22. cent and = 20 percent .
In case the characteristics of a single capacitor
are not satisfactory, several units having peaks at 4. Inductors
different temperatures may be connected in par
allel so that the combined effect is the one de A. Temperature Characteristics
sired.
Inductors having thin metallic lines on a ce
As the ceramic materials in these capacitors are ramic form show very small variations in induct
not hygroscopic, there should be no particularly ance with temperature. The fused -on coating be
adverse humidity effects even in the unprotected ing thin and somewhat elastic does not tear away
state. The effects of humidity and fungus may be from the ceramic surface when subjected to ex
reduced by a wax dipping or lacquer. treme temperature, cycling. This is true even
The dissipation factor also may vary through though the thermal expansion coefficient of the
wide limitsoverthe usual temperature range. The metal is greater than that of the ceramic. For all
losses are higher for the capacitors using the practical purposes, a combination of metal on ce
higher dielectric constant materials, and for that ramic behaves as though the expansion were due
reason they are not always suitable for all appli to the ceramic alone. Inductors of this type are
cations. Q values between 400 and 10,000 are typi reported to have been produced in quantity in
cal. The direct- current resistance ( insulation re Germany.
sistance ) is closely associated with the dissipation
factor. In cases where high insulation resistance is B. Loss Characteristics
necessary, such as grid -coupling capacitors, the The design of oscillators usually requires a high
ceramic capacitors should becheckedprior to use. value of Q in the tank circuit inductor. Printed
The voltage rating is higher on ceramic capacitors inductors for oscillators , therefore, are often
plated to yield high Q. A spiral inductor made duce the Q of the inductor when used to produce
of silver lines 0.03 in . wide and 0.0003 in. thick large changes in inductance. They should be used
printed on steatite had a Q of 25. Electroplating only when small adjustments are necessary and
the inductor to a thickness of 0.001 in . increased when some loss of Q may be tolerated.
the Q to 125. Silver inductors painted on fused
quartz were also developed during the war for the 5. Printed Assemblies
Signal Corps. These inductors, spirals on a flat
surface, had a Q of 80 after firing. The Q was A. Temperature Characteristics
increased to between 150 and 200 by electroplating.
Where inductors are printed on glass or ceramic The temperature performance of printed am
tubes and the conductor built up by electroplating plifiers has been studied and reveals some in
to a thick layer, Q's of 175 to 200 are not hard teresting possibilities in correcting adverse tem
to obtain [50] . As the metal parts of the vacuum perature characteristics. The average gain vs.
tube are located inside the inductor, the Q of in
ductors painted on tube envelopes is actually lower temperature and peak - frequency vs. temperature
than this. curves of a group of printed amplifiers employing
In special cases, the Q of a solenoidal inductor disk capacitors are shown in figure 23. Note the
rise followed by a rapid drop as the temperature
on a ceramic form has been increased by grinding is increased. For comparison, an amplifier made
away the ceramic material between the conductors, up of standard ( not printed ) components is shown
leaving practically an air core inductor that is
in figure 24. It is evident that some temperature
VALUE
supported by a ceramic material having a low co
FROM
efficient of thermal expansion. When used in an
oscillator in combination with a capacitor havinga 20
AT
°C +20
negative temperature coefficient equal to the small PERCENT
PEAK FREQ.
positive coefficient of the ceramic inductor, a fre PEAK FREQ .
quency stability approaching that of quartz
crystals was obtained .
Like spiral inductors, the inductance of sole
CHANGE
noidal inductors may be increased by painting -20

GAIN
magnetic paint between the conductors or on the
inside and outside of the solenoid . GAIN
The distributed capacitance of these inductors -40
-40 -20 o +20 +40 +60 +80
is relatively large, and depends on the spacing
between turns, the thickness of the conductor and TEMPERATURE-° C
the dielectric constant of the base material. FIGURE 23. Change in peak frequency and gain with tem
perature of printed amplifier on a steatite plate.
C. Tuning Adjustment +60
–ERCENT
CHANGE
The tuning or factory adjustment of spiral in

x
VALUE
FROM
ductors can be accomplished in several ways. A +40

P20
AT
°C
metallic plate brought into close proximity to the

inductor will change its inductance. In one case
+20
an inductor having an inductance of 0.22 uh was
reduced to 0.12 when a thick brass plate having PEAK FREQ.
an area 30 percent of that of the inductor was
O
moved within 0.1 in . of the inductor. The Q

dropped from 100 to 50. GAIN
A powdered metal screw in the center of the -20
inductor may be used for tuning. This works GAIN

well as a means of increasing the mutual coupling
-40
between two plane spiral inductors painted one
above the other. Another expedient is a mechan
ical contact arm that makes contact over the last
-60
turn of the inductor.
A magnetic powder may be painted over the in
ductor or an intertwined spiral of magnetic paint -80
located between the turns of the inductor. Ad -60 -40 -20 0 +20 +40 +60 +80
justment is made by scraping off the required TEMPERATURE - ° C
amount of magnetic material to reduce the in FIGURE 24. Change in peak frequency and gain with tem
ductance to the desired value. perature of amplifier constructed with standard min
It is evident that the above tuning methods re iature components.
33
PERCENT
INITIAL
VALUE-
CHANGE
CHANGE
FROM
VALUE
FROM
+40
20
AT
°C
+20
PERCENT
PEAK FREQ .
+ 15H
+20 PEAK FREQUENCY
+10
PEAK FREQ.
GAIN +5
O
-20
GAIN
-10PEAK AMPLIFICATION
-40
+60 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
-60 -40 -20 o + 20 +40 +80
TEMPERATURE - C TIME - DAYS
A
FIGURE 25. Peak frequency and gain characteristics of FIGURE 26. Age characteristics of printed amplifier.
corrected printed amplifier.
The units tested had essentially, an inverted V
compensation has already been obtained by print shaped gain -frequency characteristic, making it
ing the amplifier. A study of the temperature possible to study not only the change in peak am
coefficient of the coupling and output capacitors plification with time but also the change in the
led to the choice of dielectrics with special tem frequency of peak amplification. The results
perature characteristics, with the result shown shown in figure 26 are the average of eight units
in figure 25, in which the gain curve is boosted at tested. The total decrease in peak amplification
high temperatures as desired and straightened out over this period was 6 percent, and the peak -fre
without seriously affecting the peak-frequency quency drifted upwards 19 percent. Most of the
curve . change occurred in the first 25 days. This is con
B. Aging Characteristics sidered good performance as it includes the aging
effects of not only the printed wiring and re
The aging of audio amplifiers printed on steatite sistors but the capacitors ( ceramic type ), the sub
plates wasstudied over a period of 75 days.26 miniature tubes, and the steatite base plate.
IX. Applications
Experimentation at the National Bureau of lines over which contacting arms move to select
Standards has proven the practicability of ap answers to functions of one or more independent
plying the new methods to the manufacture of variables.
radio and electronic equipment. Several types of
amplifiers, special electronic sets, and small radio 1. Amplifiers and Subassemblies
transmitters and receivers made in the Bureau's
laboratories have shown performance qualities Several steatite plates with circuits printed on
comparable to equipment built along conventional them are shown in figure 27A. This illustrates to
lines, as well as improved miniturization and rug a small extent the variety of shapes and figures to
gedness. Complete circuits may now be printed which the process is adaptable. All but the cylin
not only on flat surfaces but on cylinders sur drical amplifier in the lower left corner were ap
rounding a radio tube or on the tube envelope it plied with stencilled screens. The cylindrical unit
self. was painted with a brush. The resistors ( black
Now actively being developed by various lab rectangles) bear coats of protective lacquer. Note
oratories are printed circuits for electronic con the circular and rectangular spiral º inductors.
trols using gas filled tubes, electronic units for The pair second from the top are the front and
hearing aids, 1. F. strips for radar and UHF equip back sides of a plate for an oscillator unit. Note
ment, subminiature portable radio transceivers, the horizontal rectangular spiral inductor ( on the
electronic circuits for business machines, elec right) is coupled to the two vertical rectangular
tronicswitching and recording equipment, includ spirals ( on the left ) through the ceramic plate.
ing telephone apparatus and devices such as the These are the plate, grid, and antenna coupling
radio sonde. Other activity includes manufacture inductors of a short wave transmitter. The plates
special components such as antennas, interstage illustrate methods of attaching foil strips to the
coupling units, microwave components, shields, disk capacitors, and some examples of how cross
etc., and the printing of graphs with conducting overs are accomplished in the wiring. Five com
pleted printed assemblies are shown in figure 27B.
26 Data supplied by Centralab Division, Globe-Union , Inc. Subminiature tubes are used. The twostage re
SINGLE TUBE SINGLE STAGE AMPLIFIER
TRANSMITTER FOR WITH PHASE SHIFT NET
2 METER BAND WORK FOLLOWED BY OUT
PUT CONTROL STAGE
TWO STAGE AMPLIFIER UNITS
A
|
FIGURE 27. Electronic circuits printed on steatite plates and cylinders by the stencilled -screen process.
A, Partially completed units. Light lines are silver conductors and inductors ; dark rectangles are resistors ; circular disks are
ceramic capacitors . B, Finished subassemblies. Subminiature tubes are employed to minimize size.
sistance coupled amplifier of figure 2 is printed

on a thin steatite plate 1.5 in. wide and 2 in. long.
Both the silver circuit wiring and graphite resis
tors were printed using stencils and a squeegee.
This unit employs a pair of CK -505AX subminia
ture voltage amplifier pentodes [ 51 ] .
Figure 28 shows a two-stage amplifier painted
on the envelope of aа miniature 6J6 tube. This is a
complete unit requiring only plugging into a
power supply to operate. The circuit wiring was
applied with a stencil wrapped around the tube.
The developed stencil and wiring arrangement
are shown in figure 29. For painting circuits on
tube envelopes ,paints are used that do not re
quire baking at extremely high temperatures to
drive binder and solvents.
out this way tube
In
performance is not deteriorated by gases that may
be released from its metal parts by the heat. The
circuit maybe applied to the tube envelope either
before or after the tube elements are in place. A
glass tube was employed in the unit of figure 28,
although a metal tube might have been used after
FIGURE 28. Two - stage amplifier painted on the glass en

velope of twin -triode miniature vacuum tube ( type 0 " 1"
6J6 ) using stencilled-screen .

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FIGURE 29. Circuit diagram and developed stencil for two
stage amplifier of figure 28
0"
wul
first coating the metal envelope with a layer of
lacquer or other insulating material. A tube with FIGURE 30. Hearing aid type amplifier printed on ceramic
plate .
ceramic envelope may beused. Lead wires from
the circuit to the tube prongs are painted on with radio tubes, speaker, power supply , and other com
a brush . Leads may also be soldered to points on
the tube envelope itself, ribbon-type leads usually ponents may be soldered to complete the circuit .
These circuits might be useful to experimenters
being employed . Lead cross -overs are to be provided the currents used are small.
avoided in the printing. When this is impossible,
cross-overs on glass may be made by painting a Figure 30 shows an amplifier printed by one
thin layer of insulating lacquer over the lead to manufacturer as a unit suitable for a hearing aid.27
be crossed and when the lacquer has dried, paint It is a three -stage amplifier with a gain of 10,000.
ing the cross-over lead on top of it. Another Included are a miniature volume control and
method is to place or cement a thin insulated strip specially designed clips to hold the subminature
such as scotch tape over the lead and run a foil tubes. It was printed on a ceramic plate by the
strip or ribbon over it. The cross-over ribbon is stencilled - screen process. The single-stage ampli
connected to the circuit by a drop of silver paint fiers of figure 5 were also made by this process.
or solder at its ends. ( See figure 27A, unit second One manufacturer has placed on the market a
from top, at right.) The wiring of the unit of variety of printed coupling circuits in which the
figure 28 was accomplished without cross-overs.
dielectric material 28 for the capacitors is the base
The idea can be applied to any nonconducting plate itself. Conductors and capacitors are printed
surface. Thus, electric circuits can be printed on
the ceramic covers of electric components such at in the same stencilling operation. The result is
an unusualy compact unit. Even when entirely
the normal type of IF inductor cases, or on the in coated with a protective plastic cover, the units
side of the plastic cabinet of aa radio or other piece are only approximately 0.06 in. thick. A diode fil
of radio or electronic equipment. Another sugges ter circuit consisting of a resistor and two capaci
tion of perhaps limited practicability is that spe tors is 0.19 in. wide and 0.5 in . long. Other units
cial radio and electronic circuits may be printed on such as audio coupling circuits and alternating-,
flexible or nonflexible sheets, such as the page of a
magazine and issued periodically in the same man 27 Several hearing aid companies are developing subminiature
hearing aids with printed circuits. One hearing aid manufac
ner as crossword puzzles. Eyelets would be turer has scheduled production of printed sets.
28 The dielectric constant of the base plates may be as high as
placed on the pages at appropriate points to which 90,000 .

perlipop
SEE
TE
RE
M
AC
LUCU
11.
A B
FIGURE 31. Printed subminiature radio transmitters and receivers

A, Top row, five types of 132–144 mc transmitters. All are grid modulated and require only connection to microphone and bat
tery to operate . Oscillator circuits of two units at left are printed on outer surface of thin steatite cylinder housing subminiature
tube. Circuit of center unit is painted on the glass envelope of 6K4 subminiature triode 34 in . in diameter and 114 in . long. Trans
mitter second from right is painted on glass envelope of T - 2 tube, 14 in. in diameter and 1 in . in length . Circuit of transmitter at
extreme right is painted on 332 in. steatite plate, 1.5 in . wide and the same in length . Bottom row, developmental stages of a steatite
plate transmitter. Plate at left carries three silvered spiral inductors and single high dielectric constant ceramic capacitor. Reverse
side of plate (center) shows silver wiring, three ( black rectangular ) resistors, and four circular ceramic capacitors. Next is complete
transmitter with subminiature tube and battery plug.
B , Top row , four -tube receiver printed on 332 in . Lucite plate, 2 in . wide and 5 in. long. Stencilled silver circuit wiring is shown in
plate at left, with completed receiver at right. Battery and spea ker are omitted. Center row, four-tube receiver printed on thin
steatite plate. All receivers have four stages consisting of square law detector, two stages of pentode amplification and triode output
stage feeding permanent magnet type speaker. Bottom row , two developmental stages of a four-tube receiver printed on thin steatite
plate, 2 in . wide and 3 in . long. Plate at left shows complete circuit wiring (without tubes and capacitors) applied with camel's-hair
brush except for spiral inductors . Wiring on center plate was applied by stencilling process. Leads from complete receiver at
right connect to battery and speaker.
direct-current radio and subassemblies consisting

of three resistors and three capacitors are 0.5 in .
wide and 1.0 in. long.
2. Transmitters and Receivers

Figures 31 and 32 show a number of radio trans
mitters and receivers produced by the printed cir
cuit technique. Designed to operate in the band
132–144 megacycles — these examples illustrate only
a few of the wide number of variations possible
in printing circuits [ 52, 53, 54, 55 ]. Silver and
carbon paints were used to make the sets.
The five types of transmitters shown in the upper
half of figure 31A are single tube grid -modulated
units and require only connection to modulator
and battery to operate. Electrical circuit diagrams
for the transmitters together with design details
are shown in figure 33. In the two units at the
top left of figure 31A the oscillator circuit is
printed on the outer surface of a thin steatite cyl
inder. The tube is inserted within the cylinder and
the combination wired to a battery plug. A
close -up view of this unit is shown at the right in
figure 34.
The unit in the top center of figure 31A is a FIGURE 32. Subminiature printed transmitter and receiver .
transmitter with circuit painted on the envelope The 2 in . by 3 in . printed receiver ( top ) has sufficient power to
of the subminiature tube, a 6K4. It was made operate the standard 10 - in . console speaker. The transmitter
assembly ( below ) consists of a power peak with the tube trans
by first wrapping a stencil of the inductor pat mitter and microphone cable plugged into opposite sides.

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FIGURE 33. - Circuit diagram and design data for three types of subminiature radio transmitters.
A , Circuit diagram and design data for two types of subminiature printed transmitters. Type 1 has the electronic circuit
painted on glass envelope of a miniature triode, and has the following circuit -constants : Tube 6K4 Sylvania subminiature triode ;
A , 6 volts ; B , 120 volts ; C, 7.5" u -subminiature high dielectric constant ceramic capacitor 0.125 in./diameter by 0.030 in. thick,
attached to tube envelope ; R , 50,000 ohms - painted on tube envelope 0.1 in. by 0.3 in . ( graphite paint ) ; Lg, four turns
painted ontube envelope (15 turns per in .) silver paint) ; Lp, five turns painted on tube envelope ; M, carbon microphone ; T,
miniature transformer ; 1,0; frequency, 136 ' mc ; plate current, 3 ma ; filament, 200 ma.
Type 2 has the electronic circuit painted on thin steatite cylinder with a subminiature tube inside the cylinder, and has the fol
lowing circuit constants ; Tube, Raytheon subminiature triode ; A , 1.5 volts ; B, 120 volts ; C, 7.5 ruf ceramic capacitor attached to
steatite cylinder ( cylinder is 1 'in . long, 0.5 in . outside diameter, 0.03 in . wall thickness ) ; R , 50,000 ohms painted on steatite cylin
der ; Lg, three turns painted on steatite cylinder ( 16 turns per in . ) ; Lp, six turns painted on steatite cylinder ( 16 turns per in .) ;
M, carbon microphone ; T , miniature transformer ; V, 4.5 volts ; frequency, 116 mc; plate current, 3 ma ; filament current, 200 ma.
B, Circuit diagram and design data for a subminiature radio transmitter painted on a flat steatite plate.
Tube, Raytheon subminiature triode : A, 1.5 volts ; B , 120 volts ; Lg, 434 turns, spiral wound on steatite plate, 716 in. outside
diameter ; Lp, 434 turns, spiral wound on steatite plate, 716 in . out side diameter ;La, 512 turns, spiral wound on steatite plate, 5/8
in. outside diameter ; M , carbon microphone ; T , miniature transformer ; V , 4.5 volts ; frequency, ' 140 mc ; plate current, 3 ma ; fila
ment current, 200 ma . Capacitors are ceramic disk type attached to steatite plate. Resistors are painted on steatite plate.
tern around the tube using masking tape. The circuit have been coated with a thin layer of plas
glass enevelope was then etched in fumes of hydro tic cement to protect against rough handling and
fluoric acid. ` After etching, the hydrofluoric acid humidity. Aclose -upof the tube and circuit is
was neutralized with strong caustic soda solution, shown at the left in figure 34. The wiring diagram
and the envelope washed thoroughly with soap and is in figure 33A . The manner in which the leads
water and rinsed in distilled water. The conduct are brought out from the circuit to the batteries,
ing paint 29 was applied to the étched surface and microphone, and antenna is illustrated in figuré
allowed to dry in the air. To improve the Q of 36. The unit is housed in a small plastic container.
the inductor, it was silver plated in a silver-cyanide The circuit of the transmitter at the top right
bath by applying a current of 0.2 amp for 15 min in figure 31A was stencilled on a 332- in . steatite
utes depositing a layer approximately 0.003 in. plate 1.5 in. wide and the same in length. The
thick.30 * The grid-leak resistor was painted on circuit for this transmitter is that of figure 33B.
using carbon paint and dried at a temperature of The development of the flat -plate transmitter
50° C under an infrared lamp. The addition of a (both sides) is shown at the bottom of figure 31A.
tiny high -dielectric ceramic capacitor completed The top side carries the three spiral inductors and
the circuit on the tube enevelope. a 50u coupling capacitor. The bottom side bears
The circuit for the unit second from the top the remainder of the circuit wiring including three
right in Figure 31A is painted on the glass envel resistors ( the dark rectangles) and four capaci
ope of a T -2 tube measuring 14 in . in diameter and tors. One of the resistors, though not shown in
1 in . in length. The silver inductors were applied the circuit diagram , is connected to the grid in
with a ruling pen mounted on a lathe with the tube ductor. It serves as a blocking resistor for measur
held in the chuck and rotated by hand. Samples ing the oscillator grid voltag e. Wiring of the
voltage.
of this work are shown in figure 35. Both tube and units wascompleted by soldering the subminature
tubes and leads for the antenna, batteries, and
29 Sauereisen Conductalute.
30 Where strong adhesion is desired, it has been found advan
microphone directly to the silver wiring on the
tageous to copper plate over the initial painted inductors prior plate.
to silver plating. A simple copper -sulfate bath may be used. The receivers shown in figure 31B are all wired
Plating at 4 amp. for about 12 minute will deposit approximately
0.0005 in . copper film . with the circuit of figure 37. Two of the units are
41
0 " 1"
FIGURE 35. Examples of inductors applied to glass tube
envelopes with ruling pen and lathe.
units also operate satisfactorily with standard

large size microphones or speakers. The trans
mitter of figure 32 is plugged into a power pack,
and the standard size carbon microphone with
matching transformer is plugged into the other
end . The 2 by 3 in. receiver mounted on the 10
in. console speaker has sufficient power to operate
the speaker so that it may be heard throughout
a fair sized auditorium.31
‫للللللها‬ The radio proximity fuze of figure 1 incorpo
rates both a transmitter and receiver made by the
printed circuit technique [ 55] . An electronic con
0 trol circuit is included in the steatite block B ; the
FIGURE 34. Close-up view of printed transmitters ; left , remainder of the circuit is printed on steatite
circuit painted on glass envelope of subminiature tube plate A.
using ceramic disk capacitor ; right, circuit on thin
ceramic cylinder housing subminiature triode. 3. Printed Plug- in Units
The case of replacing defective printed subas
on steatite plates 2 by 3 in. and 2 by 5 in. ( bottom semblies in an installation introduces new possi
and center respectively ), and the third is on a bilities in manufacture and maintenance, parti
2 by 5 in . lucite plate. They employ a square law cularly applicable to complex equipment and to
detector stage followed by two stages of pentode rural and foreign markets where maintenance is a
amplification and a triode cutput stage feeding difficult problem. This advantage is realized by
the loud speaker. The input tuning is broad so as the use of printed plug -in subassemblies, an ex
to allow reception over the complete band of 132 ample of which appears in figure 38. Principal
to 144 megacycles. All but the unit in the lower units of a set can beremoved, tested, and replaced
in the same manner as tubes are handled . It
left corner were made by the stencilled -screen pro
cess. The circuit of the other with the exception should be useful in areas where skilled repair
of the spiral inductor was painted on with aa camel's men are not available and in applications where it
is necessary to do trouble shooting under difficult
hair brush. The spiral inductors have all been conditions. With all major subassemblies wired
silver plated. As silver plating is relatively easy, in plug -in fashion, if necessary, the repair man can
it was found convenient to plate all wiring on the replace all the subassemblies in the set, taking the
base in the same operation at a rate of 0.2 amp. old units back to the shop for checking. The sub
for 15 minutes in a silver -cyanide bath. After assembly of figure 38 has been encased in a spe
the resistors were applied through a stencil and cial casting resin [56] developed at the Bureau,
the capacitors soldered to eyelets in the Lucite useful at frequencies up to and beyond the VHF.
plate, the complete surface was coated with a thin range. It is thus protected against manual and
layer of Lucite cement for protection against hu atmospheric abuse.
midity and other effects. 31 Personal transceivers incorporating printed circuits are being
Standard miniature microphones, speakers, engineered and may shortly appear on the market. One manu
facturer hasdesigned them for the proposed Citizens Communi
and batteries complete the operating units. The cation Band, 460-470 megacycles.

4. Metallizing in Electronics
The electrical industry now . employs printed
circuit techniques in making up a large number
of electrical components. Typical are the produc
LI
tion of silvered ceramic capacitors, lamps, and
vacuum tubes such as cathode ray tubes with inner
walls metallized, insulators partially metallized
for soldering thereto, metal seals to glass or ce
ramics, etc. [57, 58, 59 ] .
Paper and thin plastic sheets are prepared as
electrostatic shields and as reflectors of electro
magnetic waves by evaporating thin , almost mo
lecular, layers of metal onto the surface . Glass at
R$ tenuators for precision measurements of micro
L2
waves are made by evaporating thin layers of
metal on glass. The thickness of film is controlled
HO by measuring the conductance during deposition.
Precision metallized glass resistors [58, 59 ] for use
Y in pulse circuits are also made this way as are wave
guide pads and other microwave equipment.
Both sputtering and evaporation have been used
to plate crystals successfully [ 57] . The process not
only affords a splendid way ofmaking electrical
DO contact to the crystal face, but by controlling the
thickness of the metal layer, the crystal frequency
HIIH - may be changed over a limited range while the
crystal is oscillating freely in the evaporating
A chamber.
Metal to glass seals have been made success
FIGURE 36. Schematic arrangement of transmitter shown
fully by spraying a thin coat of aluminum onto
at left of figure 34 .
glass heated to about 400° C [ 3] . The aluminum
with its oxide is believed to dissolve partially in
the glass to form a vacuum tight bond. Copper
is sprayed over the aluminum to facilitate solder
ing thereto .
ANT
2.0
‫مرووقمی‬
2 E 36 2E 36 2 E 36 6K4
002
.002 .002
300 12.01 11.01

1.0 1.0
2.0 1.0 20520:5
1.002 .002 1.002
If Itz
If
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1.5 V + 45 V
+135 V
FIGURE 37. — Circuit diagram and design data for a subminiature radio receiver printed on a thin plate, 2 in . wide and
3 in.long.
The receiver has four stages consisting of an input stage of square law detection followed by two stages of pentode amplifica
tion and a triode output stage. 111, 120 ma, radio frequency, 140 mo/sec. ; speaker, 6 to 12 in . diameter permanent magnet or mini
ature magnetic ; If2, 200 ma:; plate current through speaker, 2.5 ma ; I, 412 turns, spiralwound, 716 in . outside diameter. All resistor
values are in megohms except cathode bias resistor which is 1,500 ohms. All capacitor values are in microfarads except the detector
grid capacitor which is 300 ju .

The radio sonde switch of figure 39 shows a
practical method of making electronic accessories.
Conventionally made by laboriously assembling
80 thin rectangular metal strips separated by in
sulators, it affords a good example of the advan
tages of the new process. A plastic strip is molded
with grooves as shown in the lower view. A con
ductive layer is then applied by chemical reduc
tion of silver. (An alternative method would be
to apply silver paint generously over the surface. )
After drying, thetop surface is ground down leav
ing the grid desired and completing the unit,
5. Electromechanical Application
Strain gages are used to measure changes in
dimensions of mechanical systems. They may be
made by applying a layer of resistance paint to
the surface understudy and measuring the change
in resistance as the member is stressed . The paint
is applied in the usual manner and coated with a
protective layer to maintain the calibration inde
pendent of atmospheric conditions.
A novel application of this principle was made 1"
0"
in developing an extremely lightweight phono
gaph pick -up [60 ]. It consists of a flexible canti
lever beam 12 in . long and approximately 0.06 in.
square made of polystyrene . The needle is per FIGURE 38. Printed plug-in unit encased in NBS casting
manently attached to one end. The other end is resin .
anchored to the tone arm. A thin resistance layer
is painted on the side of the beam . It runs out
to the free end of the beam on the top half of the
side and returns on the bottom half in horizontal
U - shape manner. Lateral displacement of the
needle as it rides over the record flexes the beam
and produces a proportional variation in resist
ance of the layer. A voltage change proportional
to the variation in resistance is fed to the ampli
fier. By running the resistance line out and back,
connections to the needle end of the arm are
avoided. In this design, connection to the re
sistance layer at the tone arm end of the beam is
made by pressure contacts. These contacts could
be eliminated by terminating the resistance lines
into painted silver strips to which fine wires may
be soldered directly.
Resistance values of 75,000 to 100,000 ohms are
used. Duplicating the arrangement on the op
posite side of the beam increases the sensitivity by
taking advantage of a mechanical push -pull effect.
It was found that the variation in resistance with
strain was a linear function over a wider range
than used in the phonograph pick -up. It is of in
terest to note the author's report that the resist
ance pick-up was completely free of hiss or back 1"
ground noise. A coat of lacquer protected the re 0"
sistance so that actual immersion in water did not
FIGURE 39. Radio-sonde commutator made by printed
appreciably affect the performance. circuit technique.

X. Conclusion
The present status of printed circuits may be The status of patents on printed circuit tech
summed as follows. The conductors of an elec- niques is one that cannot be stated in explicit terms.
tronic circuit may readily be printed by any one As mentioned above, many of the techniques are
of a large number of successful methods. Many adaptations of processes patented long ago, which
of these methods, described herein , have been patents have expired. Much of the technical in
proven in practice on production lines. The prin- formation is classed as standard knowledge of the
cipal item requiring further attention to achieve art and is unpatentable. Patents have been ap
over-all perfection in printing circuits is the devel- plied for by industrial organizations and some by
opment of improved methodsof printing resistors. the Government. Because of the large back -log of
Although much is known about printing resistors, work in the Patent Office it is not expected that
and values have been printed in largescale pro- final decisions on these applications will be
duction covering almost the entire range needed reached early. It is thought that most of the
in modern electronic manufacturing, much re- patents in process relate principally to specific and
mains to be learned about resistor manufacture
before all of the extensive requirements imposed perhaps limited processes and applications. Pat
ents applied for by the Government may ulti
on them by their use in modern electronic sets mately be made available to industry on a nonex
may be met satisfactorily . Even here the present clusive basis without charge. Concerns planning
status is good. Mass production lines have been to use printed circuits commercially are advised to
set up and are producing printed circuits in their check the patent situation in the same manner as
entirety atthe rate of thousands per day.
A manufacturer does not, however, need to set would be employed in adapting any new manufac
up his plant to produce sets that are printed in turing process.
every electronic detail to take advantage of Acknowledgment is made of substantial contri
printed circuits . Some have introduced the novel butions to the data and facts on the stencil screen
process by printing only a subassembly or an in- process by the Centralab Division of Globe-Union,
terstage network of a complex set. Some have Inc. This organization is collaborating with the
printed only the conductors, and have used stand- Bureau in research on
printed circuits on
ard resistors and capacitors for the remainder of steatite bases. Other organizations whose assist
the circuit . In this case the methods usually em- ance is acknowledged are Herlec Corp. , Metaplast
ployed to date have been painting , spraying, and Co., Inc., E. I. duPont de Nemours Co., Inc., Bat
cold die-stamping . Hundreds of thousands of telle Memorial Institute, Columbian Carbon Co. ,
electronic sets of all types have been produced Remington Arms Co., Inc. , Kenyon Instrument
in this country and abroad utilizing these tech Co., Inc., Altair Machinery Corp., and Franklin
niques in one or more subassemblies. Printing Airloop Corp.
circuit conductors and using standard resistors
and capacitors has proven an attractive way of Appreciation is expressed for the valuable lead
adopting printed circuit practice with a minimum ership of Harry Diamond, Chief of Division 13
of disturbance to engineering and production. of the National Bureau of Standards, under whose
Engineering and production personnel have been general direction this work was carried out. Ac
quick to recognize the advantages to be gained in knowledgment is also made of the valuable data
production by using printed circuit techniques and facts contributed by Philip J. Franklin , Rob
that simplify, mechanize, and reduce the cost of ert L. Henry, John J. Gurtowski, Morris Wein
assemblies. berg, and Clara Grace Moon .
XI . References
It has been impossible to cover thoroughly all the de [ 4 ] E. Rosenthal, Metal coatings on ceramics, Electronic
tails and information on processes, applications, and other Engineering ( London ) 18, 241 ( August 1916 ) .
matters related to printed circuits. As an important [ 5 ] NBS Circular C 389 ( Jan. 6, 1931 ) .
supplement, therefore, there is appended the following [6 ] Samuel Wein, Metallizing nonconductors ( Metal In
extensive bibliography. dustry Publishing Co. , 11 W. 42nd St. , New York
18, N. Y. ) .
[1 ] Cledo Brunetti and A. S. Khouri, Printed electronic [ 7 ] John Strong, Procedures in experimental physics,
circuits, Electronics 19, 104 ( April 1946 ) . ( Prentice -Hall, Inc., New York , N. Y. , 1949 ) .
]
[ 2 ] Conductive silver coatings, Metaplast Technical [ 8 ] J. A. Sargrove , New methods of radio production ,
Manual, Section 51 (Metaplast Company , Inc., the British Inst. of Radio Engineers 7 ( New
New York 11 , N. Y. ) . Series ) No. 1 ( January February 1947 ).
[ 3 ] C. W. Hansell , Miscellaneous developments in Ger [ 9 ] Technical Data Bulletin No. 8-843 ( E. I. duPont de
man science and industry, Report C-60 of Joint Nemour's Company, Inc. , Electrochemicals Dept ,
Intelligence Objectives Agency Report No. 68 Wilmington , Delaware ) ( See also Bulletin
( June 1945 ) . 8-4602 ) .
42
[ 10 ] U. S. Patent 1,563,731, Charles Ducas, Electrical ap [ 37 ] U. S. Patent 2,273,613 , W. F. Bartow, Process for
paratus and method of manufacturing (December preparing mirrors ( February 17, 1942 ).
1, 1925 ). [ 38 ] U. S. Patent 2,030,476 , H. E. Smith, Method of pro
[ 11 ] P. D. Hopf, New type of silver coating, Electronic En ducing mirrors ( February 11, 1936 ).
gineering ( London ) 19, 193 ( June 1947 ) . [ 39 ] Metallized paper capacitors ( Hobart Publishing Co.,
[ 12 ] Emory P. Miller, Electrostatic paint spraying and Box 4127, Chevy Chase Station, Washington ,
detearing, Electronics, 18 , 336 ( November 1945 ) ; D. C. ) ; James I. Cornell, Metallized paper ca
Electrostatic spraying and electrostatic detear pacitors, The Solar System 4, 5 ( November-De
ing, Industrial Finishing Magazine, 22 and 23 cember 1946 ) .
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O

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United States Department of Commerce

National Bureau of Standards Circular 468

Printed circuits have emerged from purely laboratory experiments to

1. Amplifiers and subassemblies 34

2. Transmitters and receivers 37

3. Printed plug-in units . 39

By Cledo Brunetti and Roger W. Curtis

A comprehensive treatment of the complete field of printed circuits is presented.

2 Circulars of the National Bureau of Standards

capacitors and subminiature tubes are added to

FIGURE 4. Printed interstage coupling unit, made by

( Powdered silver .. Carbon black .

a All Resistors were approximately 0.10 in . wide and 0.40 in . long .

8 Circulars of the National Bureau of Standards

Printed Circuit Techniques 9

10 Circulars of the National Bureau

FIGURE 6. Preparation of stencilled - screen .

FIGURE 7. Stencilling operations.

LT ... D. Other Methods of Applying Paint

repeated. A variation of this process is to inter A

14 Circulars of the National Bureau of Standards

61 48,000 54, 000 59, 000 £3.0 1.6 0

Metal-film resistors are produced by depositing

perature is kept in this range for 15 to 30 minutes,

after which it is raised to 750 ° C for an hour to

X .2 by the painting method principally because of the

18 Circulars of the National Bureau of Standards

Printed Circuit Techniques 19

The most practical way to increase the con

20 Circulars of the National Bureau of Standards

22 Circulars of the National Bureau of Standards

IV. Chemical Deposition

Printed Circuit Techniques 25

26 Circulars of the National Bureau of Standards

Printed Circuit Techniques 27

must be carefully chosen for the particular ap

noidal inductors may be increased by painting -20

The tuning or factory adjustment of spiral in

ductors can be accomplished in several ways. A +40

metallic plate brought into close proximity to the

moved within 0.1 in . of the inductor. The Q

A powdered metal screw in the center of the -20

inductor may be used for tuning. This works GAIN

TEMPERATURE - C TIME - DAYS

TWO STAGE AMPLIFIER UNITS

sistance coupled amplifier of figure 2 is printed

FIGURE 28. Two - stage amplifier painted on the glass en

Printed Circuit Techniques 35

36 Circulars of the National Bureau of Standards

FIGURE 31. Printed subminiature radio transmitters and receivers

direct-current radio and subassemblies consisting

2. Transmitters and Receivers

Printed Circuit Techniques 37

2200 OHMS Lp 50 wuf

units also operate satisfactorily with standard

Printed Circuit Techniques 39

300 12.01 11.01