Experimental Investigation of Temperature-Current Rise in Fine PCB Copper Traces on Polyimide, Aluminium and Ceramic (Al₂O₃) Substrates

Abstract:

Three types of copper traces for PCBs were investigated: 1) 2.5 μm thin film lines (Ti;Cu;Ni) on aluminium and ceramic (Al₂O₃) substrates; 2) 2.5 μm thin film lines (Ti;Cu;Ni;Au) on ceramic (Al₂O₃) substrates; 3) 15 μm traces (Cu;Ni) on polyimide substrate for high density interconnection PCBs. The width of all types of traces was varying in the range of 100-500 μm. The set of temperature-current diagrams for different PCB scenarios are presented and analyzed. The temperature caused by Joule heating was measured using IR camera Flir A40 with macrolens. For different cases the current was set in the range of 0.1-3 A; the measured temperature was in the range of 20-140 °C. The close agreement between the results measured and simulated with ELCUT software tool was achieved.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volume 739)
• Pages: 155-160
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.739.155
• Online since: August 2013
• Authors: Konstantin O. Petrosyants, Anton A. Popov
• Keywords: Copper Trace, Current-Carrying Capacity, Infrared Imaging, Joule Heating, PCB, Substrate Material, Thermal Modeling

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