MetalCorePCB or commonly known as MCPCB is a class of Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) that contains metal as a base material in comparison to the conventional FR4, and commonly used metals are copper, aluminum, and steel alloy.We design the core in such a way that it redirects heat away from the critical board components.And we achieve this by using a metal core of a specified thickness which helps with heat dissipation.In this article, we will introduce more details about the metal core PCB including its features, advantages, applications, and so on, now let’s read on.

Basic Knowledge about MetalCorePCB

First of all, let us know some basic information about metal core PCB:

Basic Structures of an MCPCB

Solder Mask

Circuit Layer

Copper Layer

Dielectric Layer

Metal Core Layer

Heat Sink

Material Used for MCPCB

In most cases, people use aluminum and copper as the materials of metal core, while some may use the other conductive metals and a mixture of special alloys as well.Different metals have different properties, for instance, aluminum is cheaper than copper, but copper has better heat dissipation performance.Stainless steel has a low thermal conductivity but it is more rigid.Therefore, the application and usage environment of the PCB should be considered when selecting materials for metal core.

Different Types of MetalCorePCB

According to the location of metal core and the number of trace layers, we can divide the metal core PCB into four types, they are:

Single Layer MCPCB: It refers to the MCPCB with just a single trace layer on one side.

Double Layers MCPCB: This kind of MCPCB has two trace layers on the same side.

Double Layers MCPCB

Double-Sided Layer MCPCB: For this type of MCPCB, there are two trace layers on each side.

Multi-layers MCPCB: It refers to the type of metal core PCB with more than 2 trace layers per board.