See Our New Insulated Metal Substrate Boards At The Electronics Design Show This Week

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Ross We’ll be exhibiting an exciting new printed circuit board with a thermal-regulating substrate at the Electronics Design Show in Coventry this week. This Insulated Metal Substrate (IMS) is a relatively new advancement in the UK electronics industry, particularly in the LED sector. The dielectric substrate is electrically insulating but thermally conductive. This means it is good at regulating temperature inside a product because it dissipates heat away from sensitive components. Hi5 Electronics’ newest board was developed for UK-based lighting company Innovation LEDs. The client didn’t want to use a ceramic substrate, but they needed a substrate with a better thermal performance than the aluminium backed material traditionally used in lighting boards. To maximise electrical and thermal performance in the IMS PCB we opted for a copper backed board with a dielectric substrate coating. This dielectric layer is just 75 microns thick, but it packs a significant punch. The imported substrate material has a thermal conductivity value of 5 Watts per meter per degree Kelvin (W/m/K); this value is close to the limit of conductivities making it ideal for high-powered Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting systems. This high substrate dissipates heat away from LEDs and other components, keeping them cool and extending their service life. Insulated Metal Substrate experts The client initially came to Hi5 Electronics because of our experience and capabilities handling the in-house manufacturing of Insulated Metal Substrate boards. So far, all of the ultra-high conductivity prototypes have been successful in testing on copper boards up to a thickness of 4mm. These boards have an exciting range of possible uses. They can be used for large-scale outdoor illumination shows, as well as high powered indoor stage lighting rigs which can change ‘colour temperature’ from candlelight to sunrise to bright blue skies. This capacity is crucial in the theatre and other stage shows. Innovation LEDs are preparing to take their products to the USA where they will exhibit them to a range of potential customers.

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