Abstract text

Circuit board assemblies and methods that employ integrated heatspreaders to cool the assemblies and serve as electrical ground planes for the assemblies. Such a circuit board assembly includes a substrate having at least one circuit device on at least a first surface thereof and an electrical ground plane. The circuit device has a first set of solder connections electrically connected to the electrical ground plane and a second set of solder connections electrically connected to power and signal traces on the first surface of the substrate. The assembly further includes a heatspreader embedded in the substrate and defining an electrical element of the electrical ground plane as a result of being electrically connected to the first set of solder connections. The heatspreader is configured as a plate-mesh-plate laminate that defines a cavity containing a fluid for transferring heat from the circuit device.