Circuit board

A multilayer circuit board for applications at frequencies equal to or greater than 1 GHz, comprising:

• a plurality of printed circuit board layers arranged stacked together;
• and
• a conductively plated via passing through at least one of the printed circuit board layers;
• wherein
• a surface of a one of the printed circuit board layers through which the via passes comprises a conducting region surrounding a non-conducting region;
• the non-conducting region is substantially centered around a point on the surface where the via intersects the surface;
• a smallest width dimension, that includes the point on the surface, of the non-conducting region is greater than or equal to 4 times the diameter of the via;
• the via electrically connects a conductive contact pad on a surface of one printed circuit board layer to a further conductive contact pad on a surface of another printed circuit board layer, with the printed circuit board with the non-conducting region lying between the two printed circuit board layers with pads connected by the via;
• and
• the largest width dimension of the conductive contact pads on the surfaces of the printed circuit board layers connected by the via are less than the smallest width dimension of the non-conducting region,
• and further comprising a plurality of further conductively plated vias passing through the printed circuit board layers, wherein the further conductively plated vias are for providing grounding and suppression of electromagnetic parallel plate modes.

A method of manufacturing a multilayer circuit board for applications at frequencies equal to or greater than 1 GHz, the method comprising:

• providing a plurality of printed circuit board layers;
• providing, on the surface of one of the printed circuit board layers, a conducting region surrounding a non-conducting region;
• stacking together the plurality of printed circuit board layers;
• and
• forming a conductively plated via passing through at least the printed circuit board layer with the non-conducting region, the via being formed such that the non-conducting region is substantially centered around a point on the surface of the printed circuit board layer where the via intersects the surface;
• wherein
• the non-conducting region is provided such that a smallest width dimension, that includes the point on the surface, of the non-conducting region is greater than or equal to 4 times the diameter of the via;
• the via electrically connects a conductive contact pad on a surface of one printed circuit board layer to a further conductive contact pad on a surface of another printed circuit board layer, with the printed circuit board with the non-conducting region lying between the two printed circuit board layers with pads connected by the via;
• and
• the largest width dimension of the conductive contact pads on the surfaces of the printed circuit board layers connected by the via are less than the smallest width dimension of the non-conducting region.