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August 19, 2016 | Patty Goldman, I-Connect007Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
DiGiovanni: Insulated metal substrate are your metal circuit boards, and there are several acronyms for it, like I stated above. Now, IMS happens to be a patented acronym from a North American manufacturer of a specific brand. They went off and patented the phrase IMS. We work with all the top brands, you'll also hear IMPCB, insulated metal printed circuit board. Aluminum backed. A very common acronym is metal core, although it's actually inappropriately used.
Goldman: It's incorrect. It's not really a core, it's just on the back.
DiGiovanni: That's right. However, it is possible to make a metal core part.
Goldman: You could laminate to both sides of it.
DiGiovanni: Yes.
Goldman: Then it seems like the heat wouldn't come out so easily.
DiGiovanni: Again, that’s depending on the application. Years ago I did a blinking light for an F-35 wing tip. A completely sealed unit, nowhere for the heat to go. The board had to be completely self-sustained and heat-dissipating by itself. There was nowhere to put the heat except internally so we created acopper core circuit board. What it did is it pulled the heat away from the components into the center of the board using a 0.060 copper core, and the copper just melted the heat away. A very interesting design. Not completely uncommon, but very small applications now due to cost.
Goldman: I can imagine with a copper core. Nice.
Goldman: Anything else you’d like to talk about?
DiGiovanni: Are you a hockey fan?
Goldman: You asked me that because I live in the Pittsburgh area. I'm not really a hockey fan but I did pay attention and know the Penguins won the Stanley Cup! We beat the San Jose Sharks, but my colleagues from California are not really hockey fans either. There was a cute comic in the Post-Gazette but it was lost on them, darn it.
DiGiovanni: All right, good enough.
Goldman: Well, Rob, thank you very much for your time.
DiGiovanni: You're very welcome.
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