High-power Light-emitting Diode Package Research Articles

Impact of visible light and humidity on the stability of high-power light emitting diode packaging material

There are many advantages of LEDs in energy and environmental conservation, but their short life in many outdoor applications prompt a necessity to have a detailed understanding of their degradations to prolong their lifetime, which can also conserve LED material and even expand their applications. Using ab initio density functional theory formulation, we identify the detail paths of the LED degradation in outdoor applications. We discovered that the main stressors are humidity and the light that is emitted from the LED chip itself. This is rather ironical. A mathematical model is developed based on the ab initio study, and excellent experimental agreements are found. With this model, we can predict the situations where no and slow degradations can be achieved, and these are verified experimentally here. We can also predict quantitatively the time to a specific degradation severity. Quality index of the housing material for LEDs can also be determined.

Synthesis of High-Refractive-Index Epoxy-Modified Vinyl Methyl Phenyl Silicone Resins for Encapsulation of LEDs

A series of high-refractive-index epoxy-modified vinyl methyl phenyl silicone resins with different content of vinyl groups have been synthesized by a combination of hydrolytic and nonhydrolytic sol–gel processes to improve their adhesion. The products were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The results showed that epoxy and vinyl groups were successfully introduced into the products while the content of hydroxyl groups was low. Then, epoxy-modified silicone materials were manufactured by addition reaction between the epoxy-modified vinyl methyl phenyl silicone resins and hydrogen-containing phenyl silicone resin. The epoxy-modified silicone materials were characterized by thermal aging (250°C for 2 h) experiments, light transmittance measurements, thermogravimetric analysis, red dye penetration tests, reflow soldering (270°C for 10 cycles), and lumen depreciation (50 mA for 165 h) tests. The results showed that the epoxy-modified silicone materials exhibited high transmittance (> 90%) and good thermal stability. The epoxy-modified silicone materials showed better resistance to high temperature and ultraviolet (UV) radiation than commercial epoxy resin (6103). The introduced epoxy groups greatly improved the adhesion of the silicone resin. The epoxy-modified silicone material prepared using epoxy-modified vinyl methyl phenyl silicone resin with higher content of vinyl groups showed better mechanical performance (50 Shore D). The epoxy-modified silicone material EVMPS-3′ is expected to be applicable in packaging of high-power light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

Modeling of high power light-emitting diode package integrated with micro-thermoelectric cooler under various interfacial and size effects

Thermoelectric cooler has been widely used in the thermal management of various electronic devices. However, the application of micro-thermoelectric cooler to high power light-emitting diode still needs to be further explored at present. This paper aims to establish a model of high power light-emitting diode package integrated with micro-thermoelectric cooler and explore the performance of this system under various interfacial and size effects. An experiment is conducted to validate the model. Five types of the micro-thermoelectric coolers are designed and integrated to the light-emitting diode package to reduce the localized junction temperature of the light-emitting diode chip. The influence of interfacial effects, thermoelectric element size, and driving power of micro-thermoelectric cooler on the system-level thermal and optical performance is discussed. Results indicate that the micro-thermoelectric cooler with 6 × 6 thermoelectric elements shows the best cooling performance for the driving power of micro-thermoelectric cooler lower than 0.85 W. For thermoelectric cooler with 6 × 6 thermoelectric elements, a minimum chip junction of 95.9 °C, which is 12.3 °C lower than that of the light-emitting diode without micro-thermoelectric cooler, can be achieved. This characteristic can increase the luminous efficacy and lifetime by 12.3% and 50%, respectively. It also found that the electrical boundary resistance plays a more dominant role, compared with the thermal boundary resistance. However, the thermal contact resistance exhibits greater adverse impact than the electrical contact resistance. In addition, a total performance improvement proportion of 25.5% can still be achieved, although the micro-thermoelectric cooler consumes power energy by 22.5% at the driving power of 0.87 W.

Performance of methylphenyl hydrogen-containing silicone oils for LED encapsulation

ABSTRACTThree-dimensional light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are the preferred light source for bulb lamps due to their 360° illumination. Addition curing silicone resins have usually been used to encapsulate LEDs. LED-filament encapsulation needs silicone resins having high thermal performance and thixotropy. Herein, a low refractive index and highly anti-thermal aging silicone oil was synthesized by hydrolysis and co-condensation method, and used to prepare an encapsulation material for high-power LED-filament. The cured silicone materials were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and thermal aging test under 180°C and 250°C. The results demonstrated that the thermal stability of the cured silicone resins with short-chain phenyl silicone as a crosslinker was higher than that with long-chain methyl silicone oil crosslinker. Owing to the excellent thermal stability, appropriate hardness, high transparency and photoelectric efficiency, this LED encapsulation material is a promising candidate for high-power LED package.

Effects of Die-Attach Quality on the Mechanical and Thermal Properties of High-Power Light-Emitting Diodes Packaging

The reliability of high-power light-emitting-diode (LED) devices strongly depends on the die-attach quality because voids may increase junction temperature and total thermal resistance of LED devices. Die-attach material has a key role in the thermal management of high-power LED package by providing low-contact thermal resistance. Thermal and mechanical analyses were carried out by experiments and thermal simulation. The quantitative analysis results show that thermal resistance of die-attach layer (thermal resistance caused by die-attach material and voids in die-attach layer) plays an important role in total thermal resistance of high-power LED packaging according to the differential structure function of thermal transient characteristics. The increase of void fraction in die-attach layer causes the increases of thermal resistance of die-attach layer; the thermal resistance increased by 1.95 K/W when the void fraction increased to 62.45%. The voids also make an obvious influence on thermal stress and thermal strain of chip; the biggest thermal stress of chip was as high as 847.1 MPa compared to the 565.2 MPa when the void fraction increases from being void-free to 30% in the die-attach layer.

Analysis of the experimental cooling performance of a high-power light-emitting diode package with a modified crevice-type vapor chamber heat pipe

The experimental analysis of a crevice-type vapor chamber heat pipe (CVCHP) is investigated. The heat source of the CVCHP is a high-power light-emitting diode (LED). The CVCHP, which exhibits a bubble pumping effect, is used for heat dissipation in a high-heat-flux system. The working fluid is R-141b, and its charging ratio was set at 60 vol.% of the vapor chamber in a heat pipe. The total thermal conductivity of the falling-liquid-film-type model, which was a modified model, was 24% larger than that of the conventional model in the LED package. Flow visualization results indicated that bubbles grew larger as they combined. These combined bubbles pushed the working fluid to the top, partially wetting the heat-transfer area. The thermal resistance between the vapor chamber and tube in the modified design decreased by approximately 32%. The overall results demonstrated the better heat dissipation upon cooling of the high-power LED package.

The Effects of Si Submounts Containing Cu Thermal Vias on the Heat-Dissipation Characteristics of a High-Power Light-Emitting Diode Package

We investigated the effects of Si submounts containing Cu thermal vias on the heat-dissipation characteristics of a high-power light-emitting diode (LED) package. Simulations were used to determine the optimum conditions for effective heat dissipation from the LED. The optimum thickness of the Si submount containing the Cu thermal vias was 250 μm. The optimum heat flux area ratio between the Si submount and the LED chip was 25. The thermal resistance of an Si submount 250 μm thick and 25 mm2 in area was 1.85 K/W without Cu vias. This value decreased to 1.50 K/W on incorporation of the 400-μm-diameter Cu vias. In addition, the total thermal resistance of the LED package structure was improved from 9.7 K/W to 8.3 K/W on incorporation of the 400-μm-diameter Cu vias into the Si submount.

Characteristics of the Ni–B Film in Printed Circuit Board for High-Power Light-Emitting Diodes

To develop metal printed circuit boards for a high-power light-emitting diode package using electroless plated Ni-B films on an all-in-one Al2O3-Al substrate with a 10 nm pore size, the growth mode of an electroless Ni-B film on a screen-printed Ag pattern/Al2O3-Al substrate was studied. So as not to damage the Al2O3-AI substrate, a nearly neutral Ni plating solution bath (pH 6.5) included dimethylamine borane was used. It was confirmed that the Ni-B film was selectively grown on the printed Ag paste layer, without growth on the Al2O3. The structure of the electroless plated Ni-B film was amorphous, and the deposition rate of the film was 1.64 +/- 0.078 nm/sec. According to the increase in plating time, the grain sizes of the electroless plated Ni-B film became bigger, and the surface morphology gradually became flatter. In addition, both the mass difference and the film thickness were changed linearly. From these results, it can be concluded that the electroless Ni-B film on printed Ag paste grows immediately from the beginning, and then grows linearly with increasing plating time.

Ceramic-metal package for high power LED lighting

High power light-emitting diodes (LEDs) lighting has drawn a great interest in the field of street light system in recent years. Key parameters for successful launching of LED street light in the commercial market are price and light efficiency, respectively, and they are greatly influenced by the materials and design factors used in high power LED package. This article presents a new design and materials processing technology to realize the solution of LED packaging with advantageous in price and performance. Cost effective materials and processing technology can be realized via thick film glass-ceramic insulating layer and silver conductor. Highly effective thermal design using direct heat dissipation to heat sink in LED package is demonstrated.

Thermal performance analysis of LED with multichips

The package and system level temperature and thermal stress distributions of 10 W light emitting diode (LED) with 4 chips and 100 W LED with 100 chips were investigated using finite element analysis. The chips were arranged on a Si sheet which is soldered on the copper/diamond composite slug with very high conductivity. The experimental results show that the maximal temperature appears in the chips of both two high power LEDs packages. Compared with the 10 W LEDs package with 4 chips array, the heat issue caused by stacking and coupling of the heat in 100 W LEDs package with 100 chips array is more serious. The chip temperature in the center of the array is much higher, and it decreases with the distance between the chip and the center of LEDs increases. Great thermal stress lies between the chips and the solder, which will reduce the reliability of the package.

Study on Thermal Contact Resistance for Heat Transfer of High Power LED Packaging

Thermal contact resistance is one of key technologies for heat transfer of high power light emitting diodes (LED) packaging. In this paper, based on the resistance network model of LED packaging, a 3-D finite element simulation model (FEM) is established and thermal transient testing experiments are also performed by Thermal Transient tester (T3Ster). Experiment date indicates thermal contact resistance for 48% of the total thermal resistance. The thermal interface material (TIM) layer of high power LED packaging is studied to analysis thermal contact resistance which impacts on thermal performance of LED packaging. The total thermal resistance and the thermal resistance of TIM layer are separately calculated from simulation and experiment. To the resistance of TIM layer, the result of experiment is only a 1% error compared to the result of FEM simulation. Therefore, The FEM simulation and experiment are mutually validated. In order to thoroughly study on thermal contact resistance, based on the principle of structure function, thermal resistance of three different types of TIM layer between metal core printed circuit board (MCPCB) and aluminum heat sink are measured and compared. Experiment results indicate that the quality of interface affects the thermal contact resistance to a great extent.

Thermal Resistance and Reliability of High-Power LED Packages Under WHTOL and Thermal Shock Tests

The light emitting diode (LED) packaging problems associated with high cost, high junction temperature, low luminous efficiency, and low reliability have to be resolved before the LED gaining more market acceptance. In this paper, chip-on-plate (CoP) LED packages with and without phosphors are evaluated in terms of thermal resistance and reliability under wet and high-temperature operation life (WHTOL) and thermal shock tests. The WHTOL test is with the condition of 85°C/85%RH and 350 mA of forward current for 1008 h, while thermal shock test is with 200 cycles at temperature ranging from -40°C to 125°C. The thermal behavior of the CoP packages was analyzed by 1-D thermal resistance circuit (1-D TRC) with and without spreading angle, 3-D TRC method, and 2-D axisymmetric finite element method. The feasibility of these analyses was evaluated and discussed in detail by comparing those results with experimental measurements. The reliability results indicated that all CoP packages with phosphors in the silicone encapsulant failed after 309 h in the WHTOL test, but all those without phosphors still survived after 1008 h. The failure modes were found to be the debonding of the aluminum wire from the chip or copper pad of the substrate. However, after the aluminum wire was replaced by gold wire, all the packages with and without phosphors passed after 1008 h. For these survival packages in the WHTOL test, their thermal resistances of junction-to-air and junction-to-aluminum substrate increased by about 12 and 9°C/W, respectively. Moreover, it was also found that there is a difference of 38°C/W in the junction-to-air thermal resistances for the packages between under natural and forced convections in the chamber during the WHTOL test. This might yield the different reliability data, unless the flow conditions in the test chamber are specified in this standard test. Furthermore, all the packages with and without phosphors could pass 200 cycles in thermal shock test, with minor changes in the thermal resistances. However, the degradation of luminous flux in the packages with phosphors was found to be greater than those without phosphors by 14% vs. 9%.

Heat transfer behavior of high-power light-emitting diode packages

Heat transfer characteristics of a high-power light-emitting diode (HPLED) have been carried out in terms of experiment and simulation. Finite volume method was used to analyze the temperature and thermal stress distributions in the HPLED package as a function of drive current and package structure. Predicted temperatures of silicone encapsulant and epoxy resin showed a good agreement with measured temperatures. The thermal stress increased with the drive current due to a heat burden. The intersection edges between the light emitting diode chip and the silicone encapsulant showed a higher thermal stress. The thermal stress of Cu-thin-film coated package was lower than that of other package structures because of an efficient cooling effect.