Serious about MPCBs

Nobody is more serious than Spirit Circuits about MPCBs.

As a leading UK PCB manufacturer, Spirit Circuits have now included MPCBs as one of the standard offerings from its UK manufacturing site and Asian partners. MPCBs (Metal Clad Printed Circuits) or IMS PCBs (Insulated Metal Substrate Printed Circuits) are typically manufactured using either Aluminium or Copper as the base substrate of the PCB. This can either be purchased as a proprietary material from one of the many established suppliers or we can manufacture material specific to your needs.

Our technical staff will work with your designers and engineers at the very early stages of design to ensure the materials selected will produce consistently good results and produce good yields in production.

The key advantage of a metal substrate PCB is the heat management of the assembled PCB. The metal becomes the principal component for heat removal from the device. By using a MPCB better thermal efficiency is gained, thus allowing removal of large heat sinks from the assembly, plus possible downsizing of the design.

The advantages of using a MPCB can be defined as follows;

• MPCBs can be milled and bent to form shapes not achievable with standard glass fibre and ceramic PCBs.
• Components are kept cool, thus increasing life.
• Efficient assembly can be achieved with automation, no need for labour intensive bolt on heat sinks.
• Power densities can be increased without increased heat to the component.
• Insulation requirements are achieved by dielectrics specific to the final application.
• Better cooling of components will increase reliability in the field.

Where are MPCBs used?

MPCBs are widely used in the LED lighting and power conversion applications.

LED Lighting

This is a fast growing industry and we have a wealth of experience in this sector. We have extensive knowledge of the materials available and will assist you with design to ensure the best material utilization is achieved. We also work closely with component manufacturers and specialist LED placement and assembly companies, and can offer a total solution for your LED lighting needs, from PCB layout right through to final assembly.

Power conversion

This sector typically uses a more complex MPCB. Heavy copper weights for high current low voltage applications are used and the metal substrate can be of varying thicknesses with complex engineering requirements that need milling, threading or even anodizing. At Spirit Circuits all these processes are carried out in-house.

We offer:

• Short lead-times
• MPCB Production from UK based experts in thermal PCB manufacturing
• Technical advice regarding material selection and resist types
• Exclusive Chinese MPCB partner for high volumes