insulated metal substrate (PCB) (IMS)
Insulated Metal Substrates(IMS) are heat dissipating printed circuit boards with a metallic core.
IMS or SMI PCBs dissipate unwanted heat from printed circuit boards generated by energy consuming components such as processors, transistors, thyristors, light emitting diodes or resistors.
As a basic concept, IMS circuit boards use a metallic core of aluminum or copper separated from the conductive tracks by a thermally conductive dielectric layer. The heat generated is supplied to the metal layer and dissipated from there to the air. The heat dissipation of IMS paltins is many times higher than that of printed circuit boards(PCBs). Ceramic-based Direct Bonded Copper (DBC), which is used in power modules, has even better thermal properties.