COMBI BOARD

Fine structures and high power in a single board

Background

The SCHWEIZER Combi Board is a PCB solution that enables the combination of different SCHWEIZER technologies. For high-current applications, power parts can be combined with complex logic structures in one PCB. In the case of the RF Combi Board, the use of the RF materials is limited to the areas required to enable the function. This provides a cost-optimised solution. Pre-structured inlay parts are used to create different inner layer configurations. When laminated, these can be electrically connected via the outer layers.

Applications

  • Motor controls
  • Fuse and relay boxes
  • Transducers
  • Power distributors

Benefits

  • Compact design
  • Heavy copper in combination with fine line technology
  • Different number of inner layers in power and logic areas possible
  • High reliability due to elimination of plug connectors and cables etc.

Special features

  • Basic structure can be combined with other lay-up variants including with RF materials

Designers of power applications frequently face the challenge of housing increasing functionality and power in smaller and smaller spaces. As a result, conventional strategies such as separation into a power board and a logic board or the use of a logic board in combination with lead frames or DCBs no longer bring success. Power Combi Boards enable the integration of complete functional groups, the minimisation of the required space, and the improvement of system reliability due to a significant reduction in screwed, clamped, and soldered connections.

SCHWEIZER sees the Power Combi Board as a combination of a power part with copper layer thicknesses of up to 400 μm on inner layers and a logic part with, usually, 35 μm on inner layers. The number of structural layers is normally greater in the logic part. This means, for example, that the logic part can be manufactured as a 6-layer board while the power part has only 4 layers. The electrical connection between the two parts is provided by the shared outer layers.

RF materials are specially optimised for higher frequencies. They usually have a relatively high Tg. To make the most of these properties, complete circuits can be constructed from RF materials. Alternatively (as is common in the case of automotive radar PCBs), a hybrid lay-up can be used. The SCHWEIZER RF Combi Board offers an additional alternative. In this case, the higher quality RF materials are used only in those areas where they are necessary for the function. This allows SCHWEIZER to offer a cost-optimised solution. The inlay part, made from RF materials, is inserted into a multilayer or HDI PCB made from standard FR4 material and is electrically connected via the shared outer layers.

Design rules

 

Here you will find current information about our design rules and our PCB standards.

Contact info

Robert Müller

Telefon: +49 7422 512-683

E-Mail: robert.mueller@schweizer.ag

Robert Müller