The raw materials that are used to make components, devices, or products. Use this tag if a more specific tag, like 'semiconductors' or 'ceramics', is not available.
Questions tagged [materials]
116 questions
47
votes
6 answers
Is there a technical reason why most touch screens use glass rather than plastic?
Most modern touch screens in portable devices are made of glass.
This glass often breaks if accidentally dropped. Also, it is very reflective, making it difficult to use in strong light.
I know that touch screens without glass exist. For example,…
Fiksdal
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25
votes
3 answers
ICs ("chips") are typically packaged in what material?
ICs are typically packaged (encapsulated) in a black "plastic". What is this packaging material made of?
(source)
Sparkler
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21
votes
4 answers
Do conductors age under reasonable electric load?
Construction steels are prone to fatigue failure - they get structurally weaker when exposed to repeated mechanical stress.
Is there any similar process for conductors which makes them less usable once they conduct current for long enough?
In other…
sharptooth
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17
votes
5 answers
Why is 5.1V the standard Zener voltage and not 5V?
Looking on Digikey there are ~1300 results for 5.1V Zener diodes compared to 6 for 5V ones.
Is there any physics-related reason for this or is it something else?
Oelec
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12
votes
5 answers
Working with wooden breadboard - recommended materials
For certain reasons I am interested in constructing low power circuits using wood instead of PCB/Protoboard as a surface upon which to place and join components. Although many might find this silly, I still want these circuits to be high quality,…
sasukenebe
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12
votes
1 answer
What are the ways in which semiconductor-grade neon is critical for manufacturing?
This is a question about material use specifically in semiconductor manufacturing.
CNN's Ukraine halts half of world's neon output for chips, clouding outlook begins:
Ukraine's two leading suppliers of neon, which produce about half the world's…
uhoh
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10
votes
4 answers
How to choose a spacer/stand-off to maintain electrical contact?
I have a situation where I want a stand-off to maintain electrical contact between the PCB and the chassis it's attached to.
My question is, what's the best material and finish for this application?
I see RAF has options of aluminum (unfinished),…
The Photon
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9
votes
4 answers
Contacts corroding - why?
These solder joints on the connector look strange to me (tarnished purple).
In a more "advanced" state, they end up looking like this:
In the last image you can see, it even "ate" the plating on the mating surface of the connector, while two of…
imp
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9
votes
4 answers
What's the advantage of 'electrical tape' over 'regular' adhesive tape?
For covering copper wire and the like (whether it is carrying current or not), what's the advantage of applying electrical tape as opposed to 'normal' consumer adhesive tape (of similar thickness?
How much of an improvement in insulation or other…
user22246
8
votes
1 answer
When to use which semiconductor?
So I know that silicon is the most common semiconductor out there by far. But I also know that there are countless other options; silicon carbide, germanium, SiGe alloy, gallium arsenide, aluminum gallium phosphide, the terrifying-sounding mercury…
Hearth
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8
votes
2 answers
What is this "paper-substrate pcb" technology called?
I took apart a broken calculator to show my daughter how it functions. It had a small "traditional" FR-4 PCB mounted underneath the LCD glass, but the pushbutton area was printed on a paper-like substrate:
The paper is plasticized and shiny, but…
bitsmack
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8
votes
2 answers
What is the purpose of the IR-diode Cover on Remote Controls?
Some electronic devices' remote controls have their IR-diode covered with some glossy, dark acrlyic-glass like screen, others dont and you can directly see (and possibly touch) the IR-diode.
What is, however, the purpose of this cover?
And why do…
t0bias
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7
votes
6 answers
Is this food box safe for electronics?
I want to organize some components and wiring for power distribution for a small solar panel. Voltages up to about 24 VDC, and currents up to about 3 amps. Components inside will include switches, terminals, voltage displays, buck converters, and…
Boann
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votes
3 answers
What's the right replacement for vintage "glass cloth insulation" that transfers heat in Variac?
I ripped apart a broken 1950s-era Variac autotransformer to diagnose an internal short in the core, and found a layer of gooey insulating fabric mat between the coil/taps and the mounting plate:
The short seems to have been caused by some sort of…
BZo
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6
votes
2 answers
Gold plating versus Silver plating for electrical contacts?
I have always had it in my head that gold plated contacts were preferred.
I noticed today that the resistivity is as follows:
Silver 1.5x10-8
Gold 2.4x10-8
Is there another property that makes gold preferable to silver for use in electrical…
SeanJ
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