Evaluating Thermal Cycling Fatigue Resistance for LED Chip-on-Board Applications

Abstract

LED chip-on-board applications typically involve assembling an LED die stack directly on to a high thermal conductivity substrate such as a Metal Core PCB. If solder is used for die-substrate attach for such chip-on-board applications, one needs to consider the CTE mismatch between the die stack and the MCPCB and its impact on thermal cycle-induced creep fatigue of the solder material. This paper presents a methodology to compare relative performance of different solder materials with varying thermo-mechanical properties, and compare the impact of CTE mismatch and temperature swings on transient thermal properties and relative reliability of the solder attach materials. Implications for LED chip-on-board applications are discussed.