Flexible circuit boards for LED Applications
One of the fastest growing markets in the industry is LED PCBs. For the most part, circuit boards for LED applications are single layers of circuitry bonded to an aluminum substrate by a thermally conductive heatsink. Having said that, replacing the metal substrate and dielectric with a flexible printed circuit board is now an option. The Flexible board's thinner materials provide the same thermal conductivity while allowing for greater design and engineering flexibility. Industry applications include lighting, biomedical and wearable technology (smart clothing).
3-Dimensional Applications
While Metal Core PCBs are great for planar applications, it does not bode well for three-dimensional applications. One solution would be to eliminate the metal substrate and thermally conductive dielectric, and opt for a single or double layer flexible PCB.
Thermal Conductivity
The thin flexible material will serve as a thermally conductive substrate since the common denominator between all of these substrates is that these are all simply polymers modified in one way or another.
Heatinks / Thermal Materials
Ideally, you could bond this flex circuit to a heatsink that is machined to your final shape, using a flexible Thermal Interface Material (TIM) in between.
