I am designing a flex PCB for a wearable device. What heat management techniques can I implement for efficient heat dissipation?
Good ventilation, size as large as possible (maximum surface area).
Atar is right, also (and I’m no expert on flex PCBs) if you can use heavier copper, that will help spread the heat.
Heat management is all about spreading the heat. Any copper you can get around the hot devices will help do that. This means oversized footprints and even larger traces to/from if it makes sense from an impedance standpoint.
Since flex PCBs are usually so thin, copper on the other side (assuming you have 2 sides to work with) will also help spread the heat out, even if you don’t electrically connect the copper.
If it’s wearable, spreading the heat to skin also works (if it’s not too hot). The body has great cooling properties due to the blood flow. This is figured into handheld devices as part of their heat model too.
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I’d look into pyrolytic films and similar materials for better heat dissipation in flex PCBs. Check out DuPont and Fujipoly materials. Ensure their availability.