PCB News - Analysis of the advantages and uses of aluminum substrates

Analysis of the advantages and uses of aluminum substrates

As a senior practitioner in the PCB circuit board industry, today I will sort out the comprehensive advantages and disadvantages of the aluminum substrate, as well as the use analysis, I hope it will be helpful to you!
The aluminum substrate is a metal-based copper-clad laminate with good heat dissipation function. Generally, a single panel is composed of a three-layer structure, which is a circuit layer, an insulating layer, and a metal base layer. For high-end use, there are also designed as double-sided panels, the structure is circuit layer, insulating layer, aluminum base, insulating layer, circuit layer. Very few applications are multi-layer boards, which can be made by laminating ordinary multilayer circuit boards with insulating layers and aluminum bases.
Advantages of aluminum substrate
(1) The heat dissipation is significantly better than the standard FR-4 structure.
(2) The heat transfer index is more efficient than the traditional rigid PCB circuit board.
(3) It is possible to use a lower copper weight than shown in the IPC recommendation chart.
(4) The thermal conductivity of the dielectric used is usually 5 to 10 times that of conventional epoxy glass, and the thickness is only one-tenth.

What are the main uses of aluminum substrates
(1) Office automation equipment: motor drives, etc.
(2) Communication electronic equipment: high-frequency amplifiers, filter appliances, and transmission circuits.
(3) Computer: CPU board, floppy disk drive, power supply unit, etc.
(4) Power supply equipment: switching regulators, DC/AC converters, SW regulators, etc.
(5) Power modules: inverters, solid state relays, rectifier bridges, etc.
(6) Automobiles: electronic regulators, igniters, power controllers, etc.
(7) Audio equipment: input and output amplifiers, balanced amplifiers, audio amplifiers, preamplifiers, power amplifiers, etc.
Aluminum substrates have a wide range of uses. Generally, there are aluminum substrates in audio equipment, power supply equipment, communication electronic equipment, office automation equipment, automobiles, computers, and power modules.