Aluminum PCB for LED
LED, (Light Emitting Diode) Aluminum PCB's are basically a PCB design that its substrate is made of aluminum in almost all cases with the exception of a few designs using copper. The design usually includes an aluminum/copper core that attaches the PCB circuitry by a very thin piece of dielectric that is formulated to not only conduct the most energy to the aluminum/copper core but to also exhibit very good adhesion/peel strengths. Some of the major benefits for these designs are;
-Cost. This is compared to heat sink
designs.
-Packaging. The design allows sufficient
thermal dissipation in a very small overall package
-Increased thermal efficiency. This is
because the LED base is attached to a very thin dielectric that is attached to
the aluminum in most cases vs old designs that had a heat sink attached to a
standard PCB.
-Increased density of LED’s per design
because of thermal properties.
Manufacturing these types of Metal core PCB’s are
generally very easy. The most difficult portion is the machining and drilling
of the aluminum/copper in a way that does not tear and or distort the very thin
dielectric adhesive. Major cost drivers for manufacturing these designs are
materials and machining time. The added cost of the materials is because of the
proprietary thin dielectric that is used. Only a few manufactures supply it,
and it is a very sophisticated product that needs to be carefully selected. The
machining is a smaller additional cost compared to a standard PCB but still has
to be accounted for since machining can take upwards of ten times longer on
aluminum PCB’s and up to 15 times longer on copper PCB’s compared to standard
material boards.
Lastly, because of the growing interest in LED lighting in practically all industries, more and more technology is emerging. One of the latest is a new substrate that improves efficiency by reducing the LED’s operating temperature by 30 to 50°C. This is accomplished by allowing the base of the LED to contact the heatsink without the thin dielectric in-between. This technology has been embraced by the automotive industry and we are sure it will be adopted by other industries soon.
