Advantages of thick copper PCB and its application

Typically, a standard PCB has a copper thickness of 1oz to 3oz. Thick copper PCB or heavy copper PCB is the type of PCB where the finished copper weighs more than 4oz (140μm).

What is the purpose of thick copper PCB?

Thick copper PCBs are widely used in power systems and power electronics. The extra copper weight in PCBA production allows higher current to be conducted from the board and helps with heat dissipation. The most common thick copper PCBs are double-sided or multilayer.

Thick copper PCBs are a special type of PCB. Its conductive materials, substrate materials, production processes, and application fields are all different from conventional PCBs. Plating of thick copper circuits allows PCB manufacturers to increase the copper weight in through-hole sidewalls and plated holes, which can reduce layer count and footprint. Thick copper plating integrates high current and control circuits, enabling high density with simple board construction.
 
The construction of thick copper circuits brings the following advantages to the PCB:
1. Greatly increase the current capacity
2. Higher thermal strain tolerance
3. Better heat dissipation
4. Increase the mechanical strength at the connector and PTH hole
5. Reduce product size

Application of thick copper PCB
With the increase of high-power products, the demand for thick copper PCBs has also greatly increased. Today's PCB manufacturers pay more attention to the use of thick copper plates to solve the thermal efficiency problem of high-power electronic products.

Thick copper PCBs are mostly high-current substrates, and high-current PCBs are mainly used for power modules and automotive electronic components. Traditional automotive, power and power electronics applications use primitive forms of transmission such as cable distribution and sheet metal. Now replacing the transmission form with thick copper plates can not only improve production efficiency, reduce the time cost of wiring, but also increase the reliability of the final product. At the same time, the high-current board can improve the design freedom of wiring, thereby realizing the miniaturization of the entire product.

In conclusion, thick copper circuit PCBs play an irreplaceable role in PCB mass production applications with high power, high current and high cooling requirements. Heavy copper PCB manufacturing process and materials have higher requirements than standard PCB. SYS Technology has advanced equipment and professional engineers to provide high-quality thick copper PCBs for domestic and foreign customers.