More powerful LED applications demand an increased focus on thermal management. More powerful LEDs produce more heat and temperature rise has an impact on the short-term function of a LED part such as color shift and reduced light output.
The long-term effects shouldn’t be neglected either. Higher operating temperatures can result in a reduced life time.
To reduce the operating temperature, and thus the impact of the temperature on LED applications or power converters, Eurocircuits has upgraded its IMS material. The formerly used Polytherm TC-Lam 1.3 is now succeeded by Polytherm TC-Lam 2.0.
The main difference is the dielectric. This thermally conductive layer has better properties, such as thermal conductivity of 2.0 W/mK (upgrade from 1.3 to 2.0), and thermal resistance: 0.50 K/W (lowering from 0.77 to 0.5).
The thick aluminum (alloy 5052) layer remains the same and is responsible for the heat dissipation. The copper foil on the opposite side is still 35 microns thick. This copper layer forms the base for the circuit. Other service parameters remain unchanged.