Product category:
Boards and Backplanes
News Release from: The Bergquist Company | Subject: T-Clad substrates
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 11 February 2004
Substrates simplify thermal management
T-Clad insulated metal substrate technologies can significantly reduce the cost and the complexity of thermal management in high-power-density surface-mount applications.
Bergquist's latest Thermal Clad (T-Clad) insulated metal substrate (IMS) technologies can significantly reduce the cost and the complexity of thermal management in high-power-density surface-mount applications The new T-Clad materials are ideal substrates for power conversion designs, motor drives, solid-state relays, power LED displays, and other applications where size constraints, die size reductions and high component densities make semiconductor heat dissipation a major design challenge
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 22 Oct 2002 at 8.00am (UK)
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T-Clad substrates minimise thermal impedance and conduct heat much more efficiently than standard printed circuit board materials.
As a result, cooling with T-Clad can help to extend die life through lower operating temperatures, reduce PCB size, increase power densities, and simplify assembly through the elimination of heat sinks, device clips, cooling fans and other hardware.
In addition, T-Clad substrates minimise interconnects and are more robust than the fragile thick-film ceramics and direct bond copper (DBC) constructions often used in modern applications.
Based on a three-layered system, T-Clad boards typically comprise the printed circuit foil layer, the dielectric layer, and the base layer.
Circuit layers range in thickness from 35 to 350um.
Base layers are typically 1.0mm thick aluminium, although other thicknesses and other metals - including copper - may be used.
Circuit layer and base layer are bonded together by the multiple layer dielectric, which combines electrical isolation with minimum thermal resistance.
Furthermore, T-Clad can be used to replace FR-4 in conventional multilayer assemblies to reduce the thickness of the copper circuit layer.
The latest T-Clad dielectrics are based on a proprietary polymer/ceramic blend and are available in options of multipurpose (MP), low thermal impedance (LTI), and high temperature (HT), depending on specific application requirements.
Dielectric thicknesses range from 75 to 300um depending on specific isolation needs.
Operating temperatures are up to 140C, and dielectric breakdown voltages range from 6.0kV AC to 12.5V AC.
Thermal impedances are from 0.9 to just 0.45C/W.
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