Copper Core PCBs
A standard printed circuit board (PCB) relies on a base layer typically made of fiberglass. While this material operates well in normal conditions, it often sustains damage in high-power applications. Metal core circuit boards, such as copper core PCBs, offer the durability and conductivity you need for high-temperature uses.
Millennium Circuits Limited can create a copper core PCB for your project to deliver superior results at an ideal cost.
How Are Copper PCBs Made?
Copper core circuit boards are a type of metal core PCB. With their layered design using a copper base, these PCBs offer superior thermal conductivity.
- Base layer: The base layer is made of a copper substrate that offers high thermal conductivity and heat transfer.
- Thermal insulation layer: Copper core PCBs use prepreg or another high thermal conductivity insulation to improve heat transfer.
- Circuit layer: Copper foil makes up the circuit layer, and these often range from 1 to 10 ounces.
- Dielectric layer: An added dielectric layer absorbs the heat that travels through the circuit layer and sends it to the copper substrate for dispersion.
Advantages of Copper Core PCBs
Metal core PCBs offer many benefits compared to traditional circuit boards. With copper, your circuit board will provide robust performance in several ways.
High Thermal Conductivity
Of all the metal core PCB options, copper has the highest level of thermal conductivity. With higher conductivity, the heat transfer and dissipation are much stronger. In environments where high temperatures are involved, standard PCBs, such as FR-4 boards, may not withstand the heat, causing extensive damage. A copper core PCB will redirect heat from critical circuits, preventing performance issues and extending its life span.
Environmentally Friendly
As an entirely natural material, copper is 100% recyclable. Using copper core boards can make your projects more environmentally friendly.
Durability
With higher heat dissipation, copper core PCBs are less likely to distort or corrode over time, making them more durable than ceramic or fiberglass circuit boards. Copper core also survives the manufacturing process better than standard materials, reducing breaks that may occur during development and everyday use.
Applications
As a material with high thermal conductivity and heat dissipation, copper core PCBs are the ideal solution for high-power applications. When you’re working with high-temperature projects, copper core circuit boards offer the best thermal conductivity and heat dissipation available. Your PCB will survive these severe conditions without sustaining damage to critical components.
Metal core PCBs were initially created for high-power switching supply, but they also have a significant presence in light-emitting diode (LED) applications, such as traffic lights. Copper core PCBs support higher-density designs, enabling more complex projects while operating at high currents.
Possible applications include:
- Lighting: Street lights, interior lighting and camping lanterns
- Automotive: Headlights and power controllers
- Telecommunications: Filtering appliances and high-frequency amplifiers
- Audio: Output, input and power amplifiers
- Computers: Central processing unit (CPU) boards and power devices
- Power supply: Solid-state relays, bridges, power rectifiers and converters
- Medical tools: Operating room and surgical lighting, power converters and high-power scanning technology
Contact MCL Today for Your Copper Core PCBs.
Copper Core PCB Solutions With MCL
MCL is a leading supplier for copper core circuit boards, and we create PCBs according to your project specifications. If you’re working in high-power applications, you need a circuit board that works with the required heat tolerances for the best performance. You may also have other size and build requirements to create an effective PCB.
MCL has customized solutions for your copper core PCB requirements. Experience the advantages of high thermal conductivity with specially designed copper core circuit boards from MCL. Contact our team today to discuss your project parameters. Our Customer Concierge team is ready to support your PCB needs.
Our process involves creating an engineering solution that meets your every need. We use design rule checks (DRC) and design for manufacturability (DFM) checks to give you the best results. Our experts work with you to create a PCB design for ease of manufacturability that meets your parameters while optimizing space. We’ll also organize and optimize every step in the manufacturing process to ensure safety, compliance and cost-effectiveness.
Other design solutions include:
- Panelization.
- Drawing interchange format (DXF) to Gerber conversion.
- Controlled impedance modeling.
- Materials and finish consulting.