Thermally conductive circuit boards

As device densities increase, heat is an increasing problem in electronic systems. However, circuit board materials are electrically insulating and therefore generally thermally insulating, causing ldquohot spotsrdquo around power-hungry components. This paper explores the advantages of selectively adding silicon carbide using pulsed laser deposition onto existing, conventional FR-4 circuit boards. It is shown that selectively adding thermally conductive but electrically insulating material reduces the temperature of surface-mount heat-dissipating elements on PWBs.