Cooling method for high power dissipation SMD packages

Using SMD packages with high power dissipation is challenging. To cool the SMD power packages, the state of the art solution is to use a PCB with thermal vias to extract the heat from the electronic package [1]. This solution has the disadvantage that the thermal resistance from package to heatsink is relatively high, in the range of 5–10 K/W. A new solution for cooling is proposed, in which the heatsink is extended through the PCB such that it will make thermal contact with bottom of the powerpad of the SMD package. With this solution thing is that the electrical contact is maintained to the powerpad. To compare the effectiveness of the solution, a set of thermal simulations was made. To confirm the validity of the simulation, the solution was implemented on two different power packages, and measurements on the performance were performed.