Coin Insertion Technology as a PCB Thermal Solution

If you need PCBs for high-power components, a built-in cooling feature can be very important for keeping your PCB from overheating. Coin insertion technology for PCBs can be an extremely effective solution for thermal management. When it comes to embedded coin thermal management solutions, some of the most popular options are Embedded T-Coin, Embedded I-Coin and Embedded C-Coin.

What Are PCB Embedded Copper Coin Thermal Solutions?

The standard way to dissipate heat in a printed circuit board is through thermal vias. But most PCB material is not particularly good for heat transfer. Copper, on the other hand, is an excellent conductor of heat, which is why adding copper to your PCB is highly effective when you need to dissipate heat from an active PCB.

With embedded coin technology, you can insert a piece of copper directly under the component to absorb and dissipate excess heat. T-Coin, I-Coin and C-Coin refer to the shape of the coin which you will be using, based on the shape of the area WHERE  you are trying to offset the excess heat.

How Do Embedded Copper Coin Thermal Solutions Work?

Once the designer has settled on the type of coin to embed in the particular PCB, he embeds the appropriate copper coin in the PCB slot after routing and metalizes it after lamination. This creates a tight connection between the PCB and the copper coin, with an electrical connection through copper plating, resulting in superior heat dissipation performance.

We call this “embedding” as opposed to “burying” the coin because a buried copper coin is put into a pre-milling groove during pressing and connected by lamination. While embedding a copper coin is more complex than burying one, and can result in reliability issues if not performed by a well-trained engineer, embedding is faster, cheaper and produces greater heat dissipation than burying.

Choosing the correct shape when it comes to copper coin embedding is critical. Poor shape design can result in damage to the groove wall, the coin or both, and create more waste during the manufacturing process. The embedding may also fail entirely if the coin is not properly shaped.