16+ Years Experience in PCB Manufacturing

  • Material: Copper & high thermal conductivity dielectric
  • Layer count: 1-8 layers
  • Min. Drill size: 0.3mm
  • Copper thickness: 0.5-10oz
  • Min. Trace width/space: 0.1mm
  • Technology: Normal & thermoelectric separation

What is Copper Based PCB

Copper based PCB is a type of metal based PCB, it is PCBs made by copper substrate. As the leader of the thermal conductivity in the metal substrate MCPCB(metal core PCB), the copper PCB has a thermal conductivity of up to 400 watts. It can meet the needs of higher power LED light sources after the aluminum substrate, and solve the various heat problems such as high power dead light, serious light decay, and high heat generation.

As the more active star products in the metal substrate, copper based PCBs and the aluminum substrate PCBs have their advantages and are widely used, which are common in cars, stage lights, control panels, photographic lights, and projection lights, Stage laser lamp and other products are excellent high-power accessories.

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    The Advantages of of Copper Based PCBs

    • High thermal conductivity, upto 400W or more.
    • Excellent processability and dimensional stability.
    • Cost effective, compared with ceramic circuit board, it has certain advantages in cost.
    • Excellent machining, good appearance and flexibility Viasion Technology is a professional manufacturer of copper based printed circuit board (PCB). We produce metal-based MCPCB, aluminum substrate and copper substrate PCBs. with short delivery time, strict quality and excellent service.

    Choose Viasion As Your Copper Based PCB Supplier

    Need copper based PCB? Look no further! Choose Viasion! We’re one of the best PCB manufacturers you can trust for quality and reliability.

    Viasion Technology is a professional manufacturer of copper based printed circuit board (PCB). We produce metal-based MCPCB, aluminum substrate and copper substrate PCBs. with short delivery time, strict quality and excellent service.

    Reliable & trustworthy

    Viasion has advanced automatic production equipment and various professional testing instruments, ensuring we provide our customers with high-performance and reliable copper-based PCBs.

    Customer-focus

    We will promptly and accurately understand our customers’ requirements about copper based PCBs and meet their needs and expectations with the most superior service.

    Our unwavering belief

    Viasion is dedicated to providing quality copper based PCBs for our customers with advanced production technology, efficient and flexible operation mechanism and the spirit of unremitting pursuit of quality and credibility.

    Copper Based PCB and Features

    • There are many substrates for PCBs. The aluminum substrates and copper substrates that Viasion cooperates with the most, as well as the iron substrates that are used less and less. The copper core PCB is the most expensive among them, and relatively, it also has the best performance. Because it is a copper metal core PCB , its thermal conductivity is far better than the other two materials and it is often used in more advanced products.
    • According to Viasion’s production experience and partners’ divisions, the copper base pcbs is most commonly used in the following industries, such as the communication electronics industry, industrial construction industry with higher requirements for high-temperature resistance and low-temperature resistance, including some other high-frequency products, All benefit from the better high temperature and low-temperature resistance of copper-based PCB, including thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity.
    • For copper-based boards, there are also many detailed classifications. In addition, Viasion often cooperates and produces other materials such as silver-plated copper substrates, immersion gold copper substrates, anti-oxidation copper substrates, and tinned copper substrates.
    • Copper based PCB has good electrical conductivity, and the corresponding circuit layer has an enormous current-carrying capacity burden, so thicker copper foil will be used to carry it to avoid overloading. The thickness we usually use in Viasion is generally controlled at 40μm~290μm, which can effectively prevent overloading and ensure the flawless operation of the PCB.
    • In addition to electrical conductivity, the next step is thermal conductivity. Excellent thermal conductivity is the core advantage of Copper Based Board. After analysis, the thermal insulation layer is the essential part. It mainly comprises silicon powder and aluminum oxide, including The polymer filled with epoxy resin. The material will highlight many advantages through the composition of these three core substances.
    • According to Viasion’s production experience and material knowledge, the performance improvement lies in the following key points, for example, it will be better in terms of viscoelasticity, Heat resistance, and ageing resistance will also be significantly improved, including small thermal resistance, not only in terms of thermal stress, Viasion found that it will also have a good improvement in terms of mechanical heat resistance.
    • Regarding the copper base pcb support member, the commonly used material is the copper plate, just like the name. On the one hand, the copper plate is very flexible, can be applied to various mechanical processing, such as conventional drilling, cutting, etc., and can be processed very well. The other is greatly important. The thermal and electrical conductivity is excellent, which can ensure the good operation of the product.
    • Although copper core PCB has so many excellent features, the cost of a copper-based board is relatively high due to the process and materials, so it is usually used in higher-end and high-tech product types.

    Copper Based PCB and Production Process

    • The first step is to form the copper core used in copper metal core PCB. Our primary goal is to process the shape of the copper core PCB to the target shape. Viasion’s most commonly used processing methods are machining and milling. According to the difference and particularity of the product, Viasion also other methods, such as pattern transfer etching processing, are used to ensure that the shape and design of the foundation are consistent.
    • The subsequent process is to set the board. Again, it is a relatively simple step. Viasion needs to use the FR4 copper-free board to create a frame that can be perfectly embedded for the copper based pcb made in the previous step so that it can be nested into it.
    • After completing the previous step, we next need to put the frame and the board together, that is nesting, nesting the formed OK copper base into the FR4 nesting frame. Viasion has some experience. The bent board is easy to stick during operation Glue. This situation will affect the operation and the final effect. Viasion usually uses high-temperature glue to paste to prevent the board from bending and sticking to the glue while improving the product quality.
    • Excellent machining, good appearance and flexibility Viasion Technology is a professional manufacturer of copper based printed circuit board (PCB). We produce metal-based MCPCB, aluminum substrate and copper substrate PCBs. with short delivery time, strict quality and excellent service.
    • Add it down and enter the following resin link. While laminating the laminated boards, Viasion will fill the resin wrists into the copper-based holes at this stage. At this time, it is necessary to ensure that the resin filling is complete enough. Post-production effects are critical.
    • Regarding the subsequent pressing process, Viasion will operate and press according to the Copper Based Board pressing process. However, it should be noted that after the pressing is completed, it must be reported to the positioning hole for positioning and fixing. So far, the former process flow has ended.
    • After finishing the pressing in the previous step, the next step is to enter the post-process. First of all, let's talk about the structure. The final product is Viasion, made of a copper base, FR4 cover board, plugging resin and PP. After the copper foil is assembled and pressed, it is made by PCB multilayer board technology.
    • Then Viasion will come to form the copper base. In short, it will make the pure copper plate into a copper base module. Finally, we will use FR4 material to bury the module.
    • Then Viasion will start to design the positioning holes. It is because FR4 is prone to deformation during the pressing process. Then Viasion will choose different measures according to the actual process conditions. For example, the positioning holes must be added to the copper base. Usually, choose to add a small hole first in the big back hole only for positioning before drilling after lamination.
    • The following describes in detail if Viasion uses high-temperature glue to prevent the bending position from sticking in production of copper metal core PCB. Usually, during the pressing process, the bending position is easy to stick to resin glue, so Viasion will paste this position with high-temperature glue to prevent sticking. , In addition, the price will be about 0.2mm in some positions.
    • The next stage is called bending position uncovering. As the name suggests, Viasion will encapsulate the bending position after pressing. Then it will enter the surface treatment stage. Before that, Viasion will uncover the position and then use gong + V to remove the remaining material. Then we can get a fully functional copper based PCB.
    1
    Copper-based forming processing:
    According to Viasion's experience, the best process at present for copper based PCBs is CNC punching and forming processing, which can greatly save raw materials and is very cost-effective. Of course, according to different situations, Viasion can also use graphic transfer etching and gong milling processes.
    2
    Sleeve molding:
    Viasion uses the gong milling process to process the FR4 copper-free bare board into a sleeve frame that embeds the copper pcb of the corresponding material number, which is a relatively simple step.
    • Next is the design experience of Viasion's sleeve board. The sleeve board is formed directly after the FR4 bare board is cut; it is the insulating side on the edge of the formed embedded copper board. At the same time, the production process side of the PNL board is also on this. Therefore, the length and width dimensions must be fully considered during design.
    • About the use of Viasion board: In addition to fixing the copper core pcb during pressing, ensuring that the resin is filled around the copper-based tightly, it is used for the process side in the post-processing process, and it is also the insulating side of the finished product. Viasion is one the most trusted single-sided, double-sided and multilayer metal more PCB manufacturer. Please contact us freely when you got any copper based PCB fabrication requirement.

    Sleeve card position

    To better the bonding force between the outer insulating edge of the finished product and the inner layer copper base, a card slot must be designed between the sleeve plate and the copper base.

    Resin effect

    The resin in the filled hole produced by this process should be full, smooth, and free of voids. The filled resin must consider the easy processing ability of PTH, the adhesion ability of hole copper, and the ability to resist thermal shock.

    Uncovering design

    Before spraying the tin, open it along the direction of the arrow, and then cut off the PP along the solder mask, forming a line at the position of the double horizontal line so that the copper block inside is exposed. If there is a screw hole at the bending position, it should be when the cover is uncovered. The gongs will be released at the same time.

    Lamination design

    If the thickness of the finished board is required to be 1.6mm, the copper base must be 1.2mm, and the thickness of the finished copper is 1OZ, then H+2116+core board part+2116+H can be selected, and PP with high glue content should be preferred.

    Resin filling

    Solid or liquid resin can fill the holes according to the needs. When filling the holes with the resin, the holes in the copper base should be filled. The resin will flow into the holes after being heated and melted. Therefore, the resin coated on the board surface does not need to be cleaned.

    Lamination

    Set according to the lamination parameters specified by the buried copper plate, because it is related to the air exhaust of the resin hole, the resin curing process, the heat transfer of copper and other factors, the lamination parameters should fully consider these issues.

    Uncovering position

    The sleeve frame should be widened so that there is a distance of more than 1mm between it and the copper base to prevent the extended part of the high-temperature tape from affecting the unit or causing air bubbles during pressing.

    Drilling design

    After lamination, it enters the multilayer board processing process, but some through holes pass through the inner copper base, and unique copper metal drills must be used for this part of the holes. At the same time, the speed of drilling these holes should be at most 25,000 rpm. In addition, the speed should not exceed 0.5m/min.

    Design of large holes for gongs: special copper substrate gong cutters must be used for the heat dissipation holes of gongs. At the same time, the rotation speed of these holes should not exceed 15,000 rpm, and the stroke speed should not exceed 3m/min.

    Surface copper thickness control

    This product's control of surface copper thickness is the most significant operational control point. All designs must give priority to this issue. The optimum surface copper thickness is 35um, and the positive and negative tolerance is less than 5um.

    Open the cover

    Peel off the outer layer of the bending position through high-temperature adhesive bonding so that the copper base at the bending position is exposed. At the same time, if there are screw holes, they are also exposed during this process.

    Uncovering

    Before we spray the tin, the bending position must be exposed first to spray it with tin. The process of uncovering is to open along the direction of the arrow and then cut the PP along the solder mask, forming a line at the position of the double horizontal line in the above figure to expose the copper.

    Electroplating process

    Adopting the full board electroplating process is advisable to prevent the uneven copper thickness of the coating. After PTH, the board is thickened with copper electroplating, so the surface copper is 35um. Then the circuit is made, the tin resists layer is plated, and the circuit is etched.

    Surface treatment such as HASL, OSP, ENIG etc.

    Lead-free HASL temperature 270 ℃ * 3-4S. Pay special attention to the copper substrate as far as possible not to respray tin to avoid defects such as blast holes and too thin surface copper.

    Bending

    Bending copper based PCBs according to the size designed by the customer. Pay attention to the direction and angle of the bending, the direction of the bending follows the document's instructions, and the angle is usually 90°. If there are other requirements, they will be made according to the requirements.

    End

    Applying copper core PCB is essential for PCB, especially in higher-end industries. With the sustainable development of society, it will play a more critical role. Excellent thermal and electrical conductivity cover the higher cost, which will be more widely used in products in the future. Please contact us freely any time when you want your copper base PCBs manufactured.
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    Frequently Asked Questions

    Excellent thermal conductivity
    High heat conduction efficiency
    Excellent heat dissipation
    Good machinability and dimensional stability
    Large current carrying capacity

    Automotive Industry
    Telecommunications Equipment
    Industrial Control Systems
    Medical Devices and Sensors
    Security Systems
    Aerospace and Military Industry
    LEDs and Lighting Applications
    Consumer Electronics

    Copper based PCBs are much more complex than standard FR4 PCB production processes,  such as outline profiling/cutting;
    Copper base PCBs are much more expensive than regular FR4 circuit boards;
    Normally, only one or two signal layers  on copper-based PCBs, it is not suitable for multilayer PCBs.

    Yes, there are several possible substitutes for copper-based PCBs. These alternatives involve aluminum, alloy compound, reinforced FR4 and other high-tech PCB board materials. But we always need to consult the copper base PCBs designer or the copper base PCBs manufacturer before changing the base material.

    It depends, high thermal conductivity is the most important characteristic of copper based PCB, if your electronic devices need extremely high head dissipation requirement, then copper backed PCB could be a good choice.

    Yes. Metal core PCBs are the circuit board produced with metal, such as aluminium, copper, iron and other alloy. But copper based PCB means the PCBs are produced with copper substrate. Copper-based PCB is one kind of metal core PCB.

    The first step in copper-based PCB design is determining the material type that should be used according to your applications. 

    Please keep the following precautions in mind when handling copper-based PCBs.
    Always following ISO9001 rules in production processes
    Use insulated tools when handling copper base PCBs.
    Remember to store Copper PCB in a temperature and humidity controlled environment.

    Storing copper core PCBs in an environment with low relative humidity (RH) and a specific temperature range is essential to protect them from oxidation. Additionally, copper metal core PCBs should be stored in static-free packaging or containers made of non-conductive materials.

    There is no difference between these two terms. All of them are circuit boards with a copper plate attached to meet the high heat dissipation requirement of high power electronic boards.

    Although most of the copper foil-based PCBs are one layers, but some more complex electronic devices all need multilayer metal core PCB. A multilayer metal core PCB manufacturer must have a very experienced production and quality team.