What Every PCB Designer Should Know - Return Current Path (with Eric Bogatin)
Why Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange recommends it
Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange commenters point people to it for a clear explanation of return current paths when answering questions about plane splits, high-speed lanes, and TDR.
Recommended by 3 people across 3 different months, 2021 to 2023.
What it is
A 51-minute interview in which PCB design educator Robert Feranec talks with signal integrity expert Eric Bogatin about why return currents flow directly beneath signal tracks. The discussion covers how return paths behave and why they matter for board layout.
What people said
Recommends Frodyne · 2021-05 · Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange · on “Electricity only flows in a complete circuit, so how does TDR (time domain reflectometery) work?”
Here is another video that talks about return currents in greater detail: [this video] - if you want you can skip to 8:05.
Recommends 0x3333 · 2023-03 · Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange · on “Is it right to route AC L/N on different layers on a PCB?”
Just for the ones in the future, there are two nice videos about the routing, vias and return path: [this video] and [LINK]
Recommends pgvoorhees · 2023-05 · Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange · on “PCB design for high-frequency differential lanes (PCIe and USB)”
Do not break your planes and you will have a return path. Watch all of this: [this video] (and any other video where Robert interviews either Rick Hartley, or Eric Bogatin).