By Charles Harper
McGraw Hill
9 chapters and appendix of IPC standards

Currently, this book is one of the most up-to-date textbooks on printed circuit board (PCB) technology and well worth the investment. Overall, the book is well illustrated, but selected chapters could have used more diagrams and photographs.

All the areas of high performance PCBs are covered in this book, with an entire section devoted to the concepts and types of microvia technology used in the industry. The cost implications and design requirements are defined along with the process steps. More information on design issues and the problems they can cause during assembly would have been beneficial to the reader. The book also has a few application examples of microvias, most of which relate to telecom and high-end consumer electronics.

The use of alternative substrates such as ceramic and flex are discussed along with buildup technology, which has become very popular, with Japan currently leading the world. Issues relating to the environment are considered specifically where they relate to PCB manufacture.

This textbook is very worthwhile and produced as one of the new McGraw Hill Professional Engineering series.