A Brief Introduction of PCB Pad
In PCB, each component you install requires some interface to the PCB, that is why a pad appears and is used as the designated surface area for an electrical contact. In short, a PCB pad is the exposed PCB surface where components are mounted and soldered. Hence, a pad plays an important role in PCB usage and we need to learn more about it.
Two Types of Pads
A pad may consist of several different shapes and styles. Normally two types of PCB pads are used, usually including a soldered surface-mount pad or a soldered thru-hole pad. A surface mount pad is a square or rectangular copper area used for mounting surface-mount components, its size and shape depend on the component soldered to the pad.
PLTH and NPTH
While the soldered thru-hole pad includes a plated thru-hole pad (PLTH) or a nonplated thru-hole pad (NPTH).Both are a round, square, or oblong pad with a hole through the pad. This makes a leaded component to be mounted to the board by placing the lead through the hole and the lead soldered to the pad area. The difference between the two kinds of soldered thru-hole pads is whether the hole is plated or not.
Indeed, it definitely benefits you a lot if you can know the basic information of PCB pads. Moreover, learning the classification of pads would help you better understand the main function it plays, eventually get a more comprehensive understanding of PCB by yourself.
