Effect of Phosphor Layer Size on the Optical and Thermal Properties of Chip Scale Packaged Light-Emitting Diodes

Abstract

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been widely applied for backlight unit for displays, general lighting, and automotive illumination because they have a high light efficiency and long life time, and are environmentally friendly. These diverse applications require smaller and slim LED chip scale packages (CSPs). CSP LEDs have been developed to produce white LED chips by forming a thin phosphor film on blue LED chips. In this study, we investigated the effect of phosphor layer thickness and area on the optical and thermal properties of the CSP LEDs. The phosphor-conversion of chips is maximized by varying the thickness and area of the phosphor layer. Eight different types of phosphor-converted white CSPs with normal performance (CRI > 70, CCT ~ 5700 K) were prepared by using mixed multicolor phosphor materials. In other words, for five samples whose CSP area was fixed at 1.8 x 1.8 mm2, flip-chip area was 1.4 x 1.4 mm2, and flip-chip thickness was 250 μm, the thickness of the phosphor layers was varied from 100 to 500 μm at intervals of 100 μm. For other three samples where the phosphor layer thickness was fixed at 300 μm, the flip-chip area was 1.4 x 1.4 mm2, and flip-chip thickness was 250 μm, the CSPs had three different areas of 1.6 x 1.6, 1.8 x 1.8, and 2.0 x 2.0 mm2. First, the relative luminous flux and LED beam distribution were characterized using integrating sphere and a goniometer. It was shown that as the thickness of the phosphor layer increased, the luminous flux and the directivity angle increased. On the other hand, as the CSP area increased, the luminous flux and the directivity angle decreased. This could be attributed to the fact that CSP does not have a reflector (namely, a housing material) and so the blue light of the chip does not excite the whole area of the phosphor. This may be confirmed by the images showing light distribution and luminescence characteristics, which is currently under investigation. Furthermore, a junction temperature measurement system was used to characterize the junction temperatures of the five different samples whose phosphor layer thicknesses were varied from 100 to 500 μm. It was found that when the thickness of the phosphor layer exceeded the thickness of the chips (250 μm), the junction temperature of the samples dramatically increased. Further details regarding the phosphor layer thickness of the junction temperature characteristics will be investigated and described.