MCPCB Design & Fabrication

THERMAL MANAGEMENT BASED MATERIAL SPECIFICATIONS

Basics of (PCB) Thermal Management for LED Applications
 Presenter Information

• Yash Sutariya
• V.P. Saturn Electronics Corporation, Rigid PCB Manufacturer

• President / Owner Saturn Flex Systems, Flex & Rigid-Flex PCB Manufacturer

• Clemens Lasance
• Principal Scientist, Philips Research Laboratories, the Netherlands, Emeritus

• Consultant, SomelikeitCool

• Editor in Chief, Electronics Cooling

Purpose
Defining your needs
To break down your needs for thermal management materials, specifically metal core printed circuit
board (MCPCB), in LED Applications by technical requirements in order to make more effective
callouts.

Controlling the process

The end result should be shorter lead times, lower cost, and more reliable product.

Non-browning soldermasks
Introduce new non-browning white LED soldermasks.
Metal Core Boards
Definition
The MCPCB commonly consists of a metal core layer (typically aluminum or copper), a continuous dielectric
layer and a copper circuit layer.
 Part One
Specifying Materials for LED Applications
Survey Question
How do you specify materials in MCPCB LED applications?
a) Company Name and/or Part Number (e.g. Bergquist, Laird, DuPont, etc.)
b) Thickness of dielectric
c) Tg or Td
d) “Metal Core”
e) Insulation Resistance & Thermal Conductivity Values
 Survey Results
# of respondants = 120
Survey Answer
How do you specify materials in metal core LED applications?

a) Company Name and/or Part Number (e.g. Bergquist, Laird, DuPont, etc.)

Comment
Specifying by brand name locks you into a particular product produced by a particular manufacturer.

Risks Include:
• Locked into pricing
• Subject to lead times
• Preventing new materials from being used on your product
Survey Answer
How do you specify materials in metal core LED applications?

b) Thickness of dielectric,
c) Tg,
d) Td

Specifying only these items may not fully address your needs.
• Does not address thermal conductivity
• Does not address electrical insulation resistance
• Does not address type of dielectric
Answer
How do you specify materials in metal core LED applications?

e) “Metal Core”

Comment:
Specifying “metal core” does address anything whatsoever.
Answer
How do you specify materials in metal core LED applications?

f) Insulation Resistance & Thermal Conductivity Values

Comment:
You are a rock star! This is the whole point of our presentation.
Consider your needs when bringing the
bare board into the equation
Survey Question
What Are Your Needs When Selecting Materials? (Choose all that apply)
a) Transfer heat (Thermal Conductivity)
b) Prevent short circuiting to base metal core (Electrical Insulation Resistance)
c) Thickness of dielectric
d) Brand name of the material?
 Survey Results
# of respondants = 120
Cost Drivers For MCPCBs
Dielectric Substrate
The # 1 cost component of the MCPCB is the dielectric substrate between the copper traces and the
metal heatsink / core.

Definition
An electrically insulating medium which occupies the region between two conductors. In this case,
the copper circuits and the metal core heat sink.
Cost Drivers For MCPCBs (cont.)
Introducing competition
The most effective way to reduce cost of dielectric is to introduce competition:
 Laird
 Bergquist
 Dupont
 Uniplus
 Iteq
 Insulectro
 Plus future innovators
Definition and Applications
Thermal Transfer
Product Application
Electrical Insulation
Product Reliability
Purpose #1
Transfer Heat
Common Callouts include Thermal Impedance or (Unit Area) Thermal Resistance (°C in2/W, ) and Thermal
Conductivity (W/m-K).

Notes:

• The use of ‘Thermal Impedance’ is not recommended, will be discussed later

• The use of °C in2/W is not recommended, preferred is K-m2/W, in line with W/m-K
 Thermal Management for LED Applications
What is the role of the PCB?

Presented by Clemens Lasance

Clemens is a former Principal Scientist Emeritus with Philips Research, the Netherlands, with a 30 year +
focus on thermal management of electronic systems.
He is now a consultant for Somelikeit Cool, contact info: lasance@onsnet.nu
Motivation
Providing the right information the first time
The goal is to provide the LED application engineer with the right information to select the most
optimal MCPCB from a thermal point of view. Thus, ensuring the best decision is made for a
specific application in regards to thermal performance and cost.
Main Goal of Thermal Management
The Calculation of application-specific junction temperatures

Reasons / Key Issues

 Lifetime
 Color point
 Efficiency

All these key issues are significantly dependent on the junction temperature.
Basics of Heat Transfer
Fundamentals of Critical Temperature Calculation
Determining critical temperatures is contingent on a critical understanding of:

• The electrothermal analogue

• Thermal conductivity k
• Heat transfer coefficient h
• Thermal resistance Rth
Electro-Thermal Analogue

∆T = q * Rth  ∆V = I * R

Temperature drop (°C)  Voltage drop (V)

Power dissipation (W)  Current (A)

Heat flux (W/m2)  Current density (A/m2)

Thermal resistance (K/W)  Resistance (Ohm)

Electro-Thermal Analogue
A heat transfer path can be described by an electrical network

T source

Rth T ambient
q

ΔT = Tsource-Tambient

Rth (K/W) = thermal resistance

Series Circuit
Example for two resistances in series

T intermediate
T source R1 R2

q T ambient

DT = Tsource - Tambient = q * Rtotal

Rtotal = R1 + R2
Consequence of Series Circuit
Often only the largest R is relevant!

T intermediate
R1
T source R2

q T ambient

Designer’s job: find the largest resistance!

Thermal Conductivity: Fourier’s Experiment (1822)
Heat insulation
Cross Sectional Area A

hot Heat flow q cold

Heated block L Water cooled block

Result of Fourier’s experiment:

A
q ~ ∆T = Thot – Tcold
q ~ A = cross-sectional area q  k   DT
q ~ L-1 L
The proportionality constant k is called the ‘thermal conductivity’
Typical Thermal Conductivity Values
The Heat Transfer Coefficient h
The heat transfer from a solid wall into a fluid (air, water) is called convection, and to
first order this heat transfer is proportional to the area and the temperature difference
between the wall and the fluid:

q  h  A  DT
The proportionality constant h is called the
‘heat transfer coefficient’

Typical values:
Natural convection: 10 W/m2K
Forced convection: 50 W/m2K
Practice (1)
Suppose a Designer needs 5W to reach a required light output
What procedure is most optimal? DT
q
Rthtotal
Information required for first order guess:
• Maximum junction temperature: e.g. 120 °C
• Maximum ambient temperature: e.g. 40 °C
• An estimation of all thermal resistances in the total heat transfer path
Practice (2)
Next steps

 Check if required power is manageable by suitable heat sinks & convection

 Check which thermal resistances are dominant
 Then focus on these to reduce the total thermal resistance
 Final step should always be a more detailed analysis
 Recall that often we don’t talk one-dimensional heat transfer but heat
spreading, which is a rather complicated issue
 For more information please see accompanying paper and
Heat Spreading, Not a Trivial Problem in the May 2008 issue of
ElectronicsCooling
Practical Example
A L
q  k   DT Rth 
L kA
1
q  h  A  DT Rth 
h A
Relevant thermal resistances, assume 1 cm2 PCB per LED

K/W
Rth-LED 16 Luxeon Rebel
Rth-MCPCB 0.5 t = 100 µm, k = 2 W/mK
Rth-TIM 1 t = 100 µm, k = 1 W/mK

Rth-heatsink 50 A = 20 cm2, h = 10 W/m2K

Rth-heatsink 2 A = 100 cm2, h = 50 W/m2K
Rth-heatsink 1 A = 1 cm2, h = 10000 W/m2K
Practical Example
We need 5W for our light output
Can we find a suitable heat sink?

We have:
DT
Tjunction = 120 °C
q
Tambient = 40 °C Rthtotal
Rth-LED + Rth-MCPCB + Rth-TIM = 17.5 K/W; Rth-heatsink = ?

Can we dissipate 5W? No way: Conclusion:

q = 80 / (17.5 + Rth-heatsink) Even with an ideal heat sink (Rth-heatsink = 0) we
cannot dissipate the required 5W. In this case
we need an LED with less thermal resistance.
Practical Example
We need 1W for our light output

We have again:
Tjunction = 120 °C
DT
Tambient = 40 °C q
Rth-LED + Rth-MCPCB + Rth-TIM = 17.5 K/W; Rth-heatsink = ?
Rthtotal

Which heat sink is OK?

q = 80 / (17.5 + Rth-heatsink) ; Rth-heatsink = 62.5 K/W Conclusion:
We can use a simple
We found earlier: heat sink with natural
A=20 cm2, h=10 W/m2K  Rth-heatsink = 50 K/W convection.
.
Practical Example Conclusion
Thermal resistance of the MCPCB does not play any role

• In our first case, the LED thermal resistance was dominant; while in the last case,
the convective resistance was dominant.
• Hence, from a thermal point only, you can choose MCPCBs with a much lower
thermal performance (e.g.: lower thermal conductivity) and, hence, lower cost.
• A worst case analysis (see the white paper) does not change the conclusion for
this particular case.

• The thermal performance of the PCB is relevant only for very high heat flux
cases (e.g. liquid cooling) and for top-of-the-bill LEDs.
Nomenclature
The confusing situation regarding ‘thermal impedance’
Fact:
‘Electrical impedance’ is historically reserved to describe time-dependent electrical
resistance. In the limit of steady state, thermal impedance equals thermal resistance
 hence, units should be the same!
Hence,
‘Thermal impedance’ , as used by U.S. vendors, violates the electro-thermal analogy:
• Unit does not correspond (K/W vs. m2K/W)
• Definition does not correspond (time-dependent vs. steady state)

Is this a problem? Proposal:

Yes, because time-dependent (dynamic) test Use unit area thermal
methods will be increasingly used, one output of resistance, or unit Rth
which is the ‘correct’ thermal impedance.
 Product Reliability
Incorporating the Thermal Behavior of the Entire System
Simplified LED Tjunction
q

Tjunction
LED Tsolder point RJ-SP
Cu Tsolder point
Dielectric
Tboard RSP-B
Al/Cu Base
TIM Tboard
Heat Sink RB-A

Tambient
Tambient

Big concern: what is Tjunction?

Lower T junction :
More Light
Increased relative luminous flux for lower
junction temperature

Cree® XLamp® MC-E LED

Luxeon®
Rebel

39
Lower T junction :
Increased Lifetimes
Luxeon®
Rebel

40
Sample Calculation
 Smell Test
Input data
Tjunction Tambient Dissipation Area PCB Number of LEDs Area per LED
°C °C W cm2 cm2
145 40 3 10 10 1

Calculation of thermal resistances Comments Thickness Thermal conductivity Area Rth

mm W/mK cm2 K/W
LED From data sheets 10
L
(MC)PCB dielectric layer 0.5 2 1 2.5 Rth 
(MC)PCB metal layer 1.6 160 1 0.1 kA
TIM between PCB and heatsink 0.1 1 1 1
Rth of LED-PCB-TIM combination 13.6
heatsink tbd
convection tbd
Total Rth ?

Maximum dissipation (T junction  Tambient )

W
q
Rth
7.72

Looking good so far. The LED to TIM part of the total thermal resistance path
allows me to dissipate the heat to the heat sink.
Now, let’s find an effective heat sink package….
 Heat sink Calculation
Input data
Tjunction Tambient Dissipation
°C °C W
145 40 3

Calculation of thermal resistances Comments Thickness Thermal conductivity Area h Ext. Rth
mm W/mK cm2 W/m2K K/W
LED From data sheets 10
(MC)PCB dielectric layer 0.5 2 1 2.5
(MC)PCB metal layer 1.6 160 1 0.1
TIM between PCB and heatsink 0.1 1 1 1
Rth of LED-PCB-TIM combination 13.6
heatsink standard 20
convection natural 10 50.0
Total Rth 63.6

Req. Max. total thermal resistance Req. heat sink thermal resistance (max)
K/W K/W
R R R
35.0 21.4 th _ heat sin k th  total th _ LED / TIM / PCB
(Tjunction Tambient)
Rth 
q

No Go Joe. A heat sink with Natural Convection generates

too much thermal resistance to effectively cool the LED
junction. Let’s try something else….
 Heat sink Calculation
Input data
Tjunction Tambient Dissipation
°C °C W
145 40 3

Calculation of thermal resistances Comments Thickness Thermal conductivity Area h Ext. Rth
mm W/mK cm2 W/m2K K/W
LED From data sheets 10
(MC)PCB dielectric layer 0.5 2 1 2.5
(MC)PCB metal layer 1.6 160 1 0.1
TIM between PCB and heatsink 0.1 1 1 1
Rth of LED-PCB-TIM combination 13.6
heatsink standard 20
convection forced 50 10.0
Total Rth 23.6

Req. Max. total thermal resistance Req. heat sink thermal resistance (max)
K/W K/W
R R R
35.0 21.4 th _ heat sin k th  total th _ LED / TIM / PCB
(Tjunction Tambient)
Rth 
q
Bam! A heat sink with Forced Convection reduces the thermal resistance
enough to meet your needs.
However, the data show that you do have a cost savings opportunity!
 Heat sink Calculation
Input data
Tjunction Tambient Dissipation
°C °C W
145 40 3

Calculation of thermal resistances Comments Thickness Thermal conductivity Area h Ext. Rth
mm W/mK cm2 W/m2K K/W
LED From data sheets 10
(MC)PCB dielectric layer 0.5 0.4 1 12.5
(MC)PCB metal layer 1.6 160 1 0.1
TIM between PCB and heatsink 0.1 1 1 1
Rth of LED-PCB-TIM combination 23.6
heatsink standard 20
convection forced 50 10.0
Total Rth 33.6

Req. Max. total thermal resistance Req. heat sink thermal resistance (max)
K/W K/W
R R R
35.0 11.4 th _ heat sin k th  total th _ LED / TIM / PCB
(Tjunction Tambient)
Rth 
q

Time for some non-government style cost cutting. Based on the calculations, you may
actually be able to substitute your expensive thermally conductive dielectric with FR4!
But maybe not for other cases, see next sheet!
 Caveat
Don’t take calculations in a vacuum
Heat Spreading
The previous calculations are for one-dimensional heat transfer only.

Heat spreading is a different, and much more complex, issue that cannot be modeled
into a one size fits all calculation.

However, we found a worst case simplified analysis that provides a reliable estimate
of the thermal resistances in the total chain from junction to ambient.

See accompanying paper for more details

 Other Options
Calculate the effects of other cost drivers
MCPCB metal substrate
Using copper? Try plugging in Aluminum at almost 1/4 of the cost

Heatsink
Adjust the size of your heat sink to optimize performance vs. cost

Try different materials (PGHT) that offer superior thermal conductivity so that they can have a smaller
footprint
 Other Options
Break out of the box!!!
Toss the MCPCB!
Use 2 layer flex and mount directly to heatsink using TIM or Thermal Grease. Note: Filled flex materials
conduct heat better than unfilled materials

Use no flow prepreg and mount LED base directly to metal core substrate
Suggested Fabrication Notes
Taking Control of Your Design!

49
Suggested Fabrication Notes
Purpose of Fab Notes
Take your requirements for each characteristic that you deem most important and specify (values for
thermal conductivity and electrical insulation resistance).

We also suggest including a list of pre-approved materials.

Suggested Fabrication Notes (cont.)
Example of a Fab Note
Copper Weight: 2 oz.
Metal Core: 0.060” Al 5051
Dielectric:
Thermal Resistance: Maximum 0.9 (°C in2/W)
Electrical Insulation: Must meet or exceed 2,000 VDC
Any other characteristic you feel is important: XYZ
Currently Approved Materials:
 Bergquist HT-07006
 Bergquist LTI-06005
 Laird T-lam SS 1KA06
 DuPont CooLam
Suggested Fabrication Notes (cont.)
Benefits of Fab Notes
Allows supplier to quote multiple vendors.

Subsequent Results
• Lower Cost
• Quicker Lead Times
• Adaptability to take advantage of new technologies down the road
• Introduce competition from the raw materials and finished PCB suppliers
Materials Chart
 Part Two
Non-browning White Soldermask
White Soldermask
Current Resin Systems
 Focus on initial thermal shock, not constant heat

 Tend to Brown over time

 Not developed to be a Reflecting Surface for LEDs

White Soldermask (cont.)
Desired Resin Systems
 Remain white through Assembly and Lifespan of LED final product

 Have high reflectivity to enhance LED performance

 Some believe high reflection soldermask results in lower power consumption for same light
output
What are the Solutions?
New White High Temperature Liquid Photo-Imageable Soldermasks
 Past three years a number of “LED” white soldermasks have been introduced
 Unfortunately we have not seen improvements in all of them

 Through numerous studies we have so far found two offerings that show significant improvement:
 Peters (SD2491SM TSW)
 Sun Chemicals (CAWN 2589/2591)
 Electra (EMP110/5076) – available in spray on format
What are the Solutions? (cont.)
New White High Temperature Thermal Soldermasks
If Bright white soldermask is the objective, these solutions may not suffice

 Suggest base coat of LPI White then topcoat of High-Temp thermal white soldermask

 After numerous thermal whites, one does not brown after multiple cycles (Peters SD2496TSW)

 This is the formula behind “proprietary” white soldermasks offered by other PCB vendors
Cost Expanders
New White High Temperature Liquid Photo-Imageable Soldermasks
 To date, we’ve seen cost increases over standard soldermask price of 30% - 100%
 Approximately .20 to .30 cents per panel (18” x 24”)

New White High Temperature Thermal Soldermasks

To date, we’ve seen cost increases over standard soldermask price of > 100%
 Approximately $1 per panel (18” x 24”)
 Includes labor and set up for secondary application process
How do I specify White Soldermask?
“White” covers a range of hues and conformity is very judgemental

Goal is to specify in such a way to remove human judgement and create

a measureable specification
One suggestion is to specify by acceptable Pantone codes, that are measurable through instruments
 Acceptable Pantone codes:
196, 250, 256, 263, 2706, 2707, 290, 2975, 304, 317,
324, 331, 332, 337, 344, 420, 427, 428, 434, 441,
453, 454, 4545, 468, 4685, 4755, 481, 482, 489, 503,
5035, 5165, 517, 5175, 524, 5245, 531, 5315, 538, 544,
545, 5455, 5513, 5517, 552, 5523, 5527, 559, 5595, 565,
566, 5665, 571, 572, 573, 5803, 5807, 621, 622, 628,
629, 635, 642, 643, 649, 650, 656, 657, 663, 664,
670, 671, 677, 678, 684, 691, 698, 705, 706, 719,
…or any others you feel are acceptable
Sample Pantone Measurement
Thermal Webinar Conclusion

your needs for thermal performance of the dielectric

your needs for the electrical performance of the dielectric

your needs in context of entire product, not just PCB (when applicable)

that you have white soldermask choices

but keep your fab notes open to take advantage of future developments
63