0322 Mw Teledyne Labtech Graphite Thermal Mgmt Promo 623249df7c39a

Graphite Embedding Capability Furthers PCB Thermal Management

March 16, 2022

GaN-based, solid-state power amplifiers stand to benefit from layers of synthetic graphite embedded within PCBs, which enhances their thermal conductivity and improves MTBF of sensitive electronic systems.

David Maliniak

Related To: Microwaves & RF

Teledyne Labtech has developed the capability to embed layers of synthetic graphite within RF and microwave printed circuit boards (PCBs). Heat management is a significant concern in many aerospace defense and space applications where size, weight, and power (SWaP) are key attributes. Gallium-nitride (GaN) solid-state power amplifiers (SSPAs) are examples of increasingly common devices that benefit from careful heat management. This new technique allows for efficient conduction of heat away from such devices, saving system weight and increasing their lifetime.

Managing waste heat is a significant problem in today’s electronic systems, impacting reliability and requiring added expense and weight to control effectively. In the latest consumer mobile phones, it's common to employ sheets of self-adhesive synthetic graphite on top of critical semiconductor devices to conduct away waste heat from small areas. Aerospace, defense, and space applications require more precision, repeatability, and area of coverage.

To address this, Teledyne Labtech devised a method of embedding thin layers of synthetic graphite inside the structure of the host PCB reliably, saving size and weight, while increasing the lifetime of active devices (MTBF) by permitting operation at cooler steady state.

“Synthetic graphite is 4X lighter than copper, and transfers heat 4X better in the X-Y plane,” said John Priday, CTO of Teledyne Labtech. “Replacing PCB ground plane layers with it in critical applications such as T/R modules can cause devices to run up to 20°C cooler in our testing.”

Labtech has demonstrated that thermal copper layers can be replaced with the new graphite technique while remaining reliable and experiencing minimal impact on the passage of microwave signals on grounding layers.

About the Author

David Maliniak | Executive Editor, Microwaves & RF

I am Executive Editor of Microwaves & RF, an all-digital publication that broadly covers all aspects of wireless communications. More particularly, we're keeping a close eye on technologies in the consumer-oriented 5G, 6G, IoT, M2M, and V2X markets, in which much of the wireless market's growth will occur in this decade and beyond. I work with a great team of editors to provide engineers, developers, and technical managers with interesting and useful articles and videos on a regular basis. Check out our free newsletters to see the latest content.

You can send press releases for new products for possible coverage on the website. I am also interested in receiving contributed articles for publishing on our website. Use our contributor's packet, in which you'll find an article template and lots more useful information on how to properly prepare content for us, and send to me along with a signed release form.

About me:

In his long career in the B2B electronics-industry media, David Maliniak has held editorial roles as both generalist and specialist. As Components Editor and, later, as Editor in Chief of EE Product News, David gained breadth of experience in covering the industry at large. In serving as EDA/Test and Measurement Technology Editor at Electronic Design, he developed deep insight into those complex areas of technology. Most recently, David worked in technical marketing communications at Teledyne LeCroy, leaving to rejoin the EOEM B2B publishing world in January 2020. David earned a B.A. in journalism at New York University.