-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- design007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueShowing Some Constraint
A strong design constraint strategy carefully balances a wide range of electrical and manufacturing trade-offs. This month, we explore the key requirements, common challenges, and best practices behind building an effective constraint strategy.
All About That Route
Most designers favor manual routing, but today's interactive autorouters may be changing designers' minds by allowing users more direct control. In this issue, our expert contributors discuss a variety of manual and autorouting strategies.
Creating the Ideal Data Package
Why is it so difficult to create the ideal data package? Many of these simple errors can be alleviated by paying attention to detail—and knowing what issues to look out for. So, this month, our experts weigh in on the best practices for creating the ideal design data package for your design.
- Articles
- Columns
- Links
- Media kit
||| MENU - design007 Magazine
Book Excerpt: The Printed Circuit Designer’s Guide to... Thermal Management with Insulated Metal Substrates, Vol. 2, Chapter 4
September 25, 2024 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamEstimated reading time: 1 minute

Chapter 4: Selecting IMS for High-Temperature Applications
The UL 746 test series offers a prediction indication on the lifetime of polymeric materials. In previous years, 100,000 hours has been used as an indication. New approvals are done with a calculation of 60,000 hours, which leads to some confusion when comparing figures stated in older technical datasheets against test results with new materials.
In practical terms, a MOT 130 material tested under the old regime would be required to retain at least half of the electrical and mechanical initial values after 100,000 hours. Using the new 60,000-hour tests of the UL, the same MOT 130 material could be approved with a new MOT of 140, a difference of about 10°C. Note that the technical datasheet for any given material may not specify whether the MOT is expressed in terms of the 60,000-hour or 100,000-hour tests.
Direct-bonded copper (DBC) with a ceramic base is a commonly used assembly technology. While advantages include excellent solder crack compensation due to similar CTE values between component and substrate, the construction is fragile and therefore places limits on size and exposure to vibration. Small assemblies in basic shapes such as a rectangle can be done, although larger, more complex shapes become difficult.
The latest IMS technologies can overcome these drawbacks. With the support provided by the aluminum base, the assembly can have almost any shape without compromising reliability. New materials like Ventec’s VT-4B5H, which has MOT of 155°C (according to UL 746E) and thermal conductivity of 4.2 W/mK (according to ISO 22007-2), can address a large variety of high-temperature applications such as power supplies, power converters, rectifiers, and motor drives for heavy industrial applications. Others include battery charging for electric vehicles, where high voltages are used for fast charging, as well as automotive ECUs that must withstand high temperatures such as in under-the-hood environments, and electric power steering (EPS).
Further development is increasing thermal conductivity towards 7 W/mK (according to ISO). In addition to enhancing high-temperature performance, this should also meet requirements such as high breakdown voltages and large creepage distances. Note also that increased thermal performance allows the usage of thicker dielectrics.
Suggested Items
GlobalLogic, Volvo Cars Deepen Collaboration to Engineer the Future of Mobility
07/09/2025 | GlobalLogicGlobalLogic Inc., a Hitachi Group Company and leader in digital engineering, has announced it has been selected in Volvo Cars’ partnership ecosystem as one of the strategic partners within engineering services globally.
KYOCERA AVX Releases New 3DB Hybrid Couplers
07/04/2025 | PRNewswireKYOCERA AVX, a leading global manufacturer of advanced electronic components engineered to accelerate technological innovation and build a better future, released a new line of integrated thin film (ITF) hybrid couplers designed to facilitate the continued evolution of high-frequency wireless systems in industrial, automotive, telecommunications, and telemetry applications.
Honda Changes Plan to Build New Production Plant for Next-generation Fuel Cell Module in Japan
07/01/2025 | HondaHonda Motor Co., Ltd. has decided to make changes to the previously announced plan to begin operation of a plant in Moka City, Tochigi, Japan, dedicated to production of the next-generation fuel cell module.
Trimble, TDK Join Forces to Accelerate Precision Navigation
06/25/2025 | PRNewswireTrimble® and InvenSense, a TDK group company, announced they will work together to deliver an advanced navigation solution that combines the Trimble ProPoint® Go engine and Trimble RTX® correction service with TDK's SmartAutomotive™ Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) module from InvenSense.
Happy’s Tech Talk #39: PCBs Replace Motor Windings
06/12/2025 | Happy Holden -- Column: Happy’s Tech TalkThe age of electric vehicles has arrived. If we can improve energy storage, lower the price tag of batteries, andmake them work at lower temperatures, EVs may become our favorite mode of transportation. Certainly, the motors are going through a massive change. Figure 1 shows a typical EV motor.