Heavy Copper PCBs

Engineers and designers working with power electronics are benefiting from the growing trend for Heavy and Extreme Heavy Copper PCBs.

Heavy Copper: 5 oz, 175µm, 0.175mm and above

Extreme Heavy Copper: 15 oz, 525µm, 0.525mm and above

These PCBs are becoming increasingly necessary as more industrial applications call for more robust circuitry for high power. At GSPK we manufacture Extreme Heavy Copper PCBs that will take over 1500 Amps.

Heavy Copper and Extreme Heavy Copper PCBs offer benefits such as:

• Enhanced endurance to thermal stress.
• Greater current capacity.
• Increased mechanical strength in PTH holes and at connector locations
• Utilisation of exotic materials such as high-temperature substrates, without any circuit failures.
• By placing several copper weights on the same outer layer, the product size was reduced.
• Using up to 120-oz copper planes, onboard heatsinks are directly plated onto the board surface.
• On-board high-power-density planar transformers possible.
• Heavy copper-plated vias help transport heat to an external heatsink and carry a larger current through the board.

A new development at GSPK with Heavy Copper PCBs is we can embedded part of a copper layer within the PCB core. This copper layer is often referred to as an "inner layer" or a "power plane," and it is used to provide power and ground connections for the components on the board.

Part of the copper tracks are hidden within the board, much like the majority of an iceberg is hidden beneath the surface of the water.

Embedded copper PCBs are used in a variety of electronic devices, particularly those that require high-speed or high-frequency signal processing. By providing a dedicated inner layer for power and ground connections, these PCBs can reduce electromagnetic interference (EMI) and improve signal integrity. They can also help reduce the overall size and weight of a device, since fewer external components are needed to provide power and ground connections.

Embedded copper with different copper weights enables greater packaging opportunities and the ability to have the outer layers on one planar level which greatly aids assembly of components.