Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1069358
60 PCB007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2019 main topic for designers—how to release the temperature from the components that get very hot. They need to cool them down to increase the speed or power that you can apply to the components. Johnson: And it seems that you've had quite a bit of new product activity recently. Benmayor: We have a lot of activity related to the automotive industry. Today, we are a big player for the automotive industries especially with headlights and LED applications, which require a lot of thermal release from the LEDs to apply higher power into the headlights, power models, and all of the electronics related to thermal dissipation. Johnson: Eduardo, could you explain the challenges for thermal management in the headlight applications specifically, and how your products help address that? Benmayor: Thermal release has been always a big topic in electronics, but it's getting more and more surreal right now because everybody tends to minimize electronics as much as they can and apply more power into the boards, and power means directly more temperature. Releasing the temperature of the components will automatically benefit the functionalities on the board, and at the same time, extend the lifetime of the hole electronic module. The LED market today is growing worldwide, and due to the growth, many different electronic designs are being developed; a common factor in all of them is always thermal release. We need to release heat from the joint points of the LED to extend the lifetime. The lower the temperature of the LED, the longer the lifetime will be. The question all engineering departments ask is, "How can I operate my LEDs on top of the board at a lower temperature to extend the lifetime? At the same time, if I am capable to cool them down, I can increase the power on the LED, and the light emission will be higher." That's the goal of all the LED and lighting industry today. Aismalibar tries to help on the development of thermal PCBs to benefit the designers and help them to release heat. Johnson: How do you do that in your substrate products? Benmayor: For these kinds of laminates, are we need to maintain two key principles. The first is to keep a high dielectric strength on a very thin layer, which is always a topic. Second, how do you fill the resins with mineral content to achieve the highest thermal conductivity without losing adhesion to the aluminum and copper? Today, we are producing substrates with 35-micron dielectric layers, and we guaranty a dielectric breakdown of 3.000 volts, which is really complicated. We also fill up the dielectric layer with 80% of mineral content, which adds an additional complexity. Overall, the goals of today's technology are, "How do we make dielectric layers thinner, keep the electrical strength, and make it more thermally conductive?" The thicker the electrical layer, the better for the electrical strength, but it's worse for the thermal resistance. That's a challenge in the industry. Johnson: There are a lot of constraints to balance. Benmayor: It's driving completely opposite. If you want to achieve a higher electrical strength, you use thicker electrical materials typically, and if you want to have a lower thermal impedance, you need to make it the thinnest Figure 2: Aismalibar's Cobritherm Ultrathin material is well suited to automotive applications such as headlights.