Thermal Characterisation of Insulating Layers in Metal Core PCB

Abstract

This paper provides a steady-state thermal characterisation of advanced insulating layers for isotropic electroconductive adhesive based Metal Core Printed Circuit Boards. Thermal measurements were conducted using the Thermal Transient Tester to analyse the properties of layers applied onto two different base materials -aluminium and copper. For each base material, four types of insulating layers were characterised. Size of the specimen plate for both base materials was selected as 100mm x 20mm x 1mm. The isotropic electroconductive adhesive was applied onto insulating layers to ensure electrical connection between seven SMD heat-generating components. These components are mounted in the identical distance to each other. The thermal characterisation of power SMD components and the assembling process based on isotropic electroconductive adhesive were evaluated. Application of advanced insulating layer was analysed to assess the thermal performance of complete MCPCB structure. It has been shown that the lowest thermal resistance of the aluminium based insulating layers is 21.1K/W, whereas the lowest thermal resistance of the copper based insulating layer is 15.5K/W.