EM.Picasso groups objects by their trace type and their hierarchical location in the substrate layer stack-up. A trace is a group of finite-sized planar objects that have the same material properties, same color and same Z-coordinate. All the planar objects belonging to the same metal or slot trace group are located on the same horizontal boundary plane in the layer stack-up. All the embedded objects belonging to the same embedded set lie inside the same substrate layer and have same material composition.
EM.Picasso provides the following types of objects for building a planar layered structure (click on each type to learn more about it):
* {| class="wikitable"|-! scope="col"| Material Type! scope="col"| Applications! scope="col"| Geometric Object Types Allowed|-| style="width:150px;" | '''[[Defining_Materials_in_EMGlossary of EM.Cube's Materials & Physical Object Types#Perfect_Electric_Conductors_.26_Metal_Traces Perfect Electric Conductor (PEC) | Perfect Electric Conductor (PEC Traces) Trace]]''' * | style="width:300px;" | Modeling perfect metal traces on the interface between two substrate layers| style="width:250px;" | Only surface objects|-| style="width:150px;" | '''[[Defining_Materials_in_EMGlossary of EM.Cube's Materials & Physical Object Types#Impedance_Surfaces_.26_Conductive_Sheet_Traces Conductive Sheet Trace | Conductive Sheet TracesTrace]]''' * | style="width:300px;" | Modeling lossy metal traces with finite conductivity and finite metallization thickness| style="width:250px;" | Only surface objects|-| style="width:150px;" | '''[[Defining_Materials_in_EMGlossary of EM.Cube's Materials & Physical Object Types#Perfect_Magnetic_Conductors_.26_Slot_Traces Slot Trace | Slot TracesTrace]]'''* | style="width:300px;" | Modeling cut-out slot traces and apertures on an infinite PEC ground plane | style="width:250px;" | Only surface objects|-| style="width:150px;" | '''[[Defining_Materials_in_EMGlossary of EM.Cube's Materials & Physical Object Types#Perfect_Electric_Conductors_.26_Metal_Traces PEC Via Set | PEC Via SetsSet]]''' * | style="width:300px;" | Modeling small and short vertical vias and plated-through holes inside substrate layers| style="width:250px;" | Only surface objects|-| style="width:150px;" | '''[[Defining_Materials_in_EMGlossary of EM.Cube's Materials & Physical Object Types#Defining_Dielectric_Materials Embedded Dielectric Set | Embedded Dielectric SetsSet]]''' | style="width:300px;" | Modeling small and short dielectric material inserts inside substrate layers| style="width:250px;" | Only surface objects|} Click on each category to learn more details about it in the [[Glossary of EM.Cube's Materials & Physical Object Types]].
You can define two types of metallic traces in EM.Picasso: '''PEC Traces''' and '''Conductive Sheet Traces'''. PEC traces represent infinitesimally thin (zero thickness) planar metal objects that are deposited or metallized on or between substrate layers. PEC objects are modeled by surface electric currents. Conductive sheet traces, on the other hand, represent imperfect metals. They have a finite conductivity and a very small thickness expressed in project units. A surface impedance boundary condition is enforced on the surface of conductive sheet objects.