The new junction temperature, achieved by a complete redesign of the Luxeon package, represents a 50°C increase (from 135°C to 185°C) over other Luxeon products and a 60°C 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, say Lumileds. 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 185°C 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, say the company.
(Lee Baldock)
