Lumileds thermal breakthrough

No heat sink required 185C threshold delivers more useable light at higher currents.

The record-breaking temperature tolerance of the New LUXEON LED emitters announced by Lumileds Lighting last month will yield more usable light per dollar by reducing heat sink requirements and permitting higher current operation for more applications, opening new design possibilities for manufacturers of solid-state lighting solutions.

For example, New LUXEON can be mounted on an FR4 printed-circuit board (PCB) and driven at 400mA, in an ambient environment up to 40C without a heat sink.

This approach works for a wide range of applications such as undercabinet lighting, task lamps etc With the New LUXEON, costs will be lowered and solution engineering simplified.

The new junction temperature, achieved by a complete redesign of the LUXEON package, represents a 50 and #61616;C increase (from 135C to 185C) over other LUXEON products and a 60C increase over other high-power LEDs.

It offers the highest allowable operation temperature of any power LED product on the market by a wide margin.

Benefits include the ability to:.

** Simplify and reduce the cost of system thermal designs, lowering total solution costs as well as reducing the size of the heat sink required for similar ambient conditions.

Engineers will have the option to drive LEDs at higher currents with existing thermal designs to deliver more light in current applications, or dramatically reduce heat sinking for new applications.

** Increase the allowable drive current to 1500mA with a record-setting 130 lumens of light output, further reducing the cost per lumen by delivering more light from the same package.

The increase in maximum junction temperature will push out the thresholds for current derating, enabling more customers to drive the new LUXEON at higher drive currents over a wider range of thermal environments, extracting more useable light and more value from the LED.

** Operate in higher ambient temperature conditions, such as automotive and military applications where lighting solutions must withstand elevated heat and other severe environments.

"The temperature performance of our New LUXEON package is a major engineering achievement that dramatically advances the usability and cost-effectiveness of LEDs in end-user products," said Jason Posselt, Director of Product Marketing for Lumileds Lighting.

"Higher light output and lower cost per lumen are critical to expanding market acceptance, and our new 185C benchmark makes significant strides on both fronts, delivering more useable light to the end user".

"These advances directly support LED use in automotive applications and other environments where lighting assemblies are exposed to extreme heat.

The new LUXEON emitters are scheduled for summer release in white and seven colours.

In addition to offering the industry's highest allowable junction temperatures, light output and lumen maintenance, they will set new performance standards for moisture resistance and surface mount capability with a JEDEC moisture sensitivity level of 2a and the ability to withstand up to three reflow cycles, respectively.

They will also comply with the JEDEC J-STD 020c lead-free standard in order to satisfy Europe's WEEE and RoHS environmental mandates.

About Lumileds Lighting Lumileds Lighting is the world's leading manufacturer of high-power LEDs and a pioneer in the use of solid-state lighting solutions for everyday purposes including automotive lighting, camera flash, LCD displays and televisions, portable lighting, projection and general lighting.

The company's patented LUXEON Power Light Sources are the first to combine the brightness of conventional lighting with the small footprint, long life and other advantages of LEDs.

Lumileds also supplies core LED material and LED packaging, and manufactures billions of LEDs annually.

Lumileds Lighting is a joint venture between Agilent Technologies and Philips Lighting.

The company is headquartered in San Jose, California, with operations in the Netherlands, Japan and Malaysia and sales offices throughout the world.

Back to top