What are metal core PCBs and their applications?
Metal Core PCB, also known as MCPCB. Metal core PCB is a printed circuit board that uses metal as the substrate material. Compared with FR4 thermal conductivity, metal core PCB can achieve a thermal conductivity dozens of times better than FR4 and make the PCB heat more evenly.
Classification of common metal core PCBs.
Metal core PCB refers to a PCB that uses metal as the substrate. There are currently two common metal core PCBs, namely aluminum substrate PCB and copper substrate PCB.
Aluminum substrate PCB
Aluminum substrate PCB also has other names, such as: aluminum PCB, metal core PCB, MCPCB. MCPCB single-sided aluminum substrate consists of three parts, namely circuit layer, insulation layer and metal layer. The double-sided aluminum substrate is composed of five parts, namely circuit layer, insulation layer, aluminum layer, insulation layer and circuit layer. The aluminum of the metal layer will use aluminum with different thermal conductivity according to different user needs, which can reach a thermal conductivity of 1-8W/mK. The higher the thermal conductivity, the higher the cost. Aluminum is cheap and has good heat transfer and heat dissipation capabilities, and is widely used. In the LED lighting industry, however, the aluminum substrate cannot have through holes, so it cannot be applied in some fields.
Copper substrate PCB
Copper substrate is the most expensive metal substrate. It consists of three parts: copper substrate, insulation layer and copper. Most of the materials are copper, and a copper foil thickness of 35μm ~ 280μm is used. Copper has several times better heat dissipation than aluminum, can reach an astonishing thermal conductivity of 300-400W/mK, can pass through holes, is more widely used, and is suitable for high-frequency circuits and high-power electronic equipment.
Summarize
Metal core PCB is a PCB made of metal as the substrate material, and the most common ones are aluminum PCB and copper PCB. Aluminum PCB is relatively cheap, and most of its applications are low-power LED products. Copper PCB is more expensive, and its applications are mainly for more precise, high-frequency, and high-power products.
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