PCB Options: Custom PCB Board Thickness

For PCB designers that require thinner or thicker PCBs than the standard 1.6mm, we here at MacroFab offer the ability to customize PCB thickness. The PCB specifications section of the platform allows you to specify the desired thickness of your PCB. The thickness can be specified from 0.2mm to 6.3mm in hundredths of millimeter increments. Yes, we can make 2 layer PCBs as thin as 0.2mm! Some PCB Stackups and layer-counts will have higher minimal thicknesses due to additional material needed to manufacture the Stack Up.

The typical thickness of a printed circuit board (PCB) is 1.57 mm (0.062 inches), which is considered the industry standard due to its balance of mechanical strength, weight, and compatibility with most through-hole components. However, other common thicknesses include 0.79 mm (0.031 inches) and 2.36 mm (0.093 inches), often used for more robust or multilayered boards.

While these are common thicknesses, manufacturers can accommodate a wider range of options, such as 0.78 mm and 2.36 mm, depending on the PCB assembly's intended use. The optimal PCB thickness depends on factors like the application, board material, and number of copper layers. For example, thin PCBs (0.13 mm to 0.76 mm) are typically used in wearables due to their size and weight constraints. In contrast, thicker PCBs (3.18 mm to 6.35 mm) are commonly found in industrial controls and networking/telecom applications, where mechanical strength and heat dissipation are crucial.

The PCB thickness option appears on the PCB Specification tab of your PCB’s Design workspace, and provides a couple of standard thicknesses for quick selection, or the ability to input a custom thickness of your choosing. Selecting a custom thickness will prevent your design from being panelized with other designs, so minimum PCB area charges will apply, but no additional charges will be added unless you increase the thickness higher than that of the standard stackup for your layer count.

Given that we can adjust the thickness of the PCB in hundredths of a millimeter increment, it’s worth noting how the PCB fab actually accomplishes this. Let’s take a 2-layer board for example, with a standard 1.6mm thickness. Our expectation is that the PCB fab has some copper-clad core, with the total thickness of the copper and FR4 material equaling 1.6mm. Now, you probably wouldn’t expect that they’d also have that same core materials in 1.67, 1.68, and 1.69mm thicknesses — and you’d be right.

What are core and prepreg? Core material is an FR4 substrate that has been fully hardened and is pre-plated with copper foil. Prepreg (pre-impregnated) is a layer of epoxy resin that has not been fully cured, with a thin layer of fiberglass embedded in it. To make PCBs out of multiple layers, the prepreg is stacked and then pressed and heated. The epoxy cures fully during this process.

To create custom PCB board thicknesses, the PCB fab starts with a set of common core and pre preg thicknesses, then combines them in the necessary sequence, along with copper foil, solder mask, and copper plating thickness to reach the desired final thickness. For example, to make a 1.2mm thick 2-layer PCB, assuming our standard thicknesses of 0.035mm for 1oz of copper pour and 0.01mm for soldermask, you will need a single core layer at 1.07mm thick – demonstrated in the image to the right.

More information about PCB Stack Ups and the PCB specifications that surround them can be found in our knowledge base.