Board-to-Board Stacking with the DF12NB-36DS-0.5V(51)
The Hirose DF12NB-36DS-0.5V(51) is a 36-position receptacle from the DF12 series of board-to-board mezzanine connectors. It uses a 0.50mm pitch dual-row layout with center strip contacts, designed for parallel PCB stacking in compact electronics. The 2.70mm height above board supports mated stacking heights of 3.5mm, 4mm, or 5mm, giving the layout engineer room to adjust z-height budgets for the assembly.
Surface mount termination keeps the footprint small and suits automated pick-and-place lines. The 0.50mm pitch demands careful PCB layout to maintain trace escape routing between pads, but the dual-row arrangement keeps the overall connector width manageable for dense boards.
Stack Height Options and Mating Compatibility
The DF12NB-36DS-0.5V(51) mates with the matching DF12 series plug headers to achieve stacking heights of 3.5mm, 4mm, or 5mm between parallel PCBs. The specific stack height depends on the header variant selected — the plug height plus the 2.70mm receptacle height gives the total. This flexibility lets a single receptacle serve multiple board spacing requirements across a product family, reducing the number of unique connector part numbers in the BOM.
The DF12NB-36DS-0.5V(51) carries 36 positions in a dual-row layout. The same series offers 32-position (DF12NB(3.0)-32DS-0.5V(51)) and 40-position (DF12NB(3.0)-40DS-0.5V(51)) variants at the same 0.50mm pitch and 2.20mm height. The 36-position count is a mid-range option that matches many 32-bit data bus or parallel signal interface requirements without the board space penalty of a 40-position connector.
No end-of-life notification or replacement part number has been issued.