What are Copper Based PCBs?

A copper-based PCB uses copper as a primary base material in place of commonly used FR4. The copper base material is then covered with an insulating layer followed by a circuit layer. Copper core/based PCBs are known to have excellent heat dissipation and can be used for high frequency applications with minimal variation in performance over wide temperature ranges. However, these advantages do come at a cost (literally), Cu Core PCB’s are vey expensive.

Advantages of Copper Based PCBs:

• Their heat conduction is way better than the other substrates like Aluminum and Iron
• Suitable for high-frequency operation with high and low temperature variations
• The copper core PCBs have higher thermal conductivity, which improves the heat transfer efficiency followed by better heat dissipation performance.

Limitations of Cu Based PCBs:

• They are expensive and heavy in weight

Copper based printed circuit boards are used in a wide range of Automotive, and Power Electronics applications.