Capabilities – Metal Core PCB, Thermal PCBs

Introduction to Metal Core PCB

Along with all other types of PCBs, Rush PCB is also a metal core PCB manufacturer of high repute. The electronics industry calls metal core PCBs by other names also such as MCPCB, metal backed PCBs, or thermal PCBs. The simplistic metal core PCB design consists of a base metal material for acting as a heat spreader.

We use a thick metal, commonly aluminum or copper, on one side of the PCB. With reference to the copper layer, the metal core is either in the middle or on the back side of the board. In an MCPCB, the purpose of the metal core is to conduct heat away from the heat generating board components to keep critical board components safe.

The metal core transfers the heat it removes to a metal heatsink backing. We use base metals in the metal core PCB design as an alternative to CEM3 or FR4.

Contact us today and get your Metal Core PCBs built fast.

Metal Core PCB Construction

We use different metal cores for our thermal PCBs, depending on the application. The most common metal core PCBs consist of an aluminum core, copper core, or a special alloy mixture. Sometimes, customers demand cores made from steel or brass, and our metal core PCB fabrication can handle the special cores with ease.

Metal core PCB design is a complicated process, as these PCBs are very hard and cutting them into smaller boards can be a huge problem. As a metal core PCB manufacturer, Rush PCB prefers to design panels for metal core PCBs to make it easy to separate into smaller boards.

We also use special chemicals during manufacturing metal core PCBs. We ensure the chemicals do not react with the metal core.

The thickness of the core metal in thermal boards is typically 30-125 mil, but depending on application, Rush PCB offers thinner or thicker metal cores also. We offer copper foil of weight 1-10 oz for metal core PCBs.

Get your designs of Metal PCBs converted to Thermal Boards fast, our turnaround times are very low.

Advantages of Metal Core PCBs

The main advantage of a metal core PCB design is effective thermal management. We integrate a dielectric polymer layer with high thermal conductivity in between the metal core and the copper layer for lowering the thermal resistance.

The above construction allows us to make metal core PCBs with greater heat transfer rates. In fact, the heat transfer rates for Rush PCB metal core PCBs is easily 8-10 times faster than regular FR4 PCBs. The metal core in our PCBs removes heat effectively, helping to keep components cool. This results in a significant improvement in performance of the board, along with an improvement in its service life.

Applications of Metal Core PCBs

The industry uses our metal core PCBs for various applications. Many applications generate large amounts of heat that is difficult to remove with traditional cooling fans. Our metal core PCBs provide the most optimal solution for removing heat through conductive heat transfer. Most notable applications are:

• Solar panels
• Photovoltaic cells
• Electric/hybrid motor controls
• Power supplies
• High voltage regulators
• Power converters
• Automotive LED lighting applications
• General lighting applications
• Street lighting
• Safety lighting
• Back lighting applications for monitors

For any requirement of metal core PCBs, please call us or contact us today. We are available to help you turn your concepts into reality — from metal core PCB manufacturing to assembly.