Analysis shows thermal via clusters can reduce thermal resistance significantly in printed circuit boards, suggesting a new alternative for thermal management.
A rigorous analysis was performed to optimize the thermal performance of thermal via clusters in a printed circuit board (PCB) underneath high power dissipating devices. The design parameters associated with thermal via clusters (via size, plating thickness, via-to-via pitch, board thickness) can be optimized such that they may be used as an alternate thermal management scheme to the conventional metallic heatsinks commonly seen in electronic packages. Multiple finite element models were generated, using a specially developed mesh extrusion program, for various combinations of the design parameters. Discrete results from the analysis showed via clusters can reduce thermal resistance through the PCB by as much as 10X that of PCB without thermal vias. Experimental efforts are also being carried out to validate these analytical findings. Ultimately, design guidelines would be generated for the packaging engineer to choose the optimal design parameter set.
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Gary K. Mui (1995) studied this question.
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