Ultra-low current printed circuit board
AssigneeKeithley Instruments, LLC
InventorWilliam Knauer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Provided is printed circuit board for minimizing dielectric losses experienced by a low-current portion of an electric circuit. The printed circuit board includes a first substrate supporting an electrically-conductive material patterned to form a conductive pathway between electric circuit components, and a surface-mount guard pad provided on a substantially-planar exposed surface of the first substrate and covering at least an area of the exposed surface including a footprint of the low-current portion on the first substrate. A second substrate is also provided with one or more electrically conductive pads that are surface mounted to the guard pad to couple the second substrate to the guard pad. The second substrate also supports a signal trace included in the low-current region for conducting a low-current signal.
Claims12
A printed circuit board for minimizing dielectric losses experienced by a low-current portion of an electric circuit comprising:
- a first substrate including a substantially-planar exposed surface having an electrically-conductive material patterned to form a conductive pathway between electric circuit components, the conductive pathway been directly on the substantially-planar exposed surface;
- a surface-mount guard pad provided on said substantially-planar exposed surface of the first substrate and covering at least an area of the exposed surface including a footprint of the low-current portion on the first substrate;
- and
- a substantially-planar second substrate comprising one or more conductive pads that are surface mounted to the guard pad by a solder layer to couple one side of the second substrate to the guard pad, wherein the other side of the second substrate supports a signal trace included in the low-current region for conducting a low-current signal.
A printed circuit board for minimizing dielectric losses experienced by a low-current portion of an electric circuit comprising:
- a first substrate including a substantially-planar exposed surface having an electrically-conductive material patterned to form a conductive pathway between electric circuit components, the conductive pathway been directly on the substantially-planar exposed surface;
- and an electrically-conductive material patterned to form one or more surface-mount guard pads on the substantially-planar exposed surface of the first substrate and covering at least an area of the exposed surface that encompasses a footprint of the low-current portion of the electric circuit;
- and
- a substantially-planar second substrate comprising at least one void separating a first guarded region of the second substrate from a second guarded region of the second substrate, wherein
- at least one of the first and second guarded regions supports the low-current portion of the electric circuit on an exposed side of said second substrate, and
- the second substrate is surface mounted to the first substrate by a solder layer and the at least one of the first and second guarded regions supporting the low-current portion of the electric circuit is separated from the first substrate by the one or more guard pads.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.