Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10H—INORGANIC LIGHT-EMITTING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES HAVING POTENTIAL BARRIERS
  • H10H20/00—Individual inorganic light-emitting semiconductor devices having potential barriers, e.g. light-emitting diodes [LED]
  • H10H20/80—Constructional details
  • H10H20/85—Packages
  • H10H20/851—Wavelength conversion means
  • H10H20/8515—Wavelength conversion means not being in contact with the bodies
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10H—INORGANIC LIGHT-EMITTING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES HAVING POTENTIAL BARRIERS
  • H10H20/00—Individual inorganic light-emitting semiconductor devices having potential barriers, e.g. light-emitting diodes [LED]
  • H10H20/80—Constructional details
  • H10H20/85—Packages
  • H10H20/8506—Containers
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10H—INORGANIC LIGHT-EMITTING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES HAVING POTENTIAL BARRIERS
  • H10H20/00—Individual inorganic light-emitting semiconductor devices having potential barriers, e.g. light-emitting diodes [LED]
  • H10H20/80—Constructional details
  • H10H20/85—Packages
  • H10H20/855—Optical field-shaping means, e.g. lenses
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10S362/00—Illumination
  • Y10S362/80—Light emitting diode

Definitions

• the present invention is related to an illumination device and, in particular, to the wavelength conversion of light produced by high radiance light sources, such as semiconductor light emitting devices.
• LEDs light emitting diodes
• LEDs use phosphor conversion of the primary emission to generate white light, but phosphors can also be used to create more saturated colors like red, green and yellow.
• an illumination device includes a light source, such as one or more light emitting diodes and a wavelength converting element that is mounted on an opaque support structure.
• the support structure includes an aperture with which the wavelength converting element is aligned so that the converted light is emitted through the aperture.
• the wavelength converting element may be a rigid structure, such as a luminescent ceramic and the aperture may be a hole through the support structure.
• the support structure may hold the wavelength converting element so that it is physically separated from the light source, or alternatively, the support structure may place the wavelength converting element in physical contact with the light source.
• Fig. 1 is a side view of an illumination device in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention
• Fig. 2 is a side view of an illumination device similar to that shown in Fig. 1, but with the wavelength converting element in physical contact with the light source.
• Fig. 3 is an illumination device similar to that shown in Fig. 1, but with an optical element mounted in the aperture of the support structure.
• Fig. 4 illustrates an external optical element that is attached to the illumination device using the aperture in the supports structure as a registration.
• Fig. 5 illustrates an illumination device similar to that shown in Fig. 1, with the support structure mounted to an enlarged substrate.
• Fig. 6 illustrates an illumination device similar to that shown in Fig. 1 , with the support structure mounted to the heatsink.
• the wavelength converting element in an illumination device is physically supported by an structure that includes an aperture through which the converted light and a portion of the pump light, if desired, may be emitted.
• Fig. 1 is a side view that illustrates an illumination device 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
• the illumination device 100 includes a light source 102, which may be, e.g., a semiconductor light emitting device, such as one or more light emitting diodes (LED) 104, or other types of light sources that can produce short wavelength light, such as a Xenon lamp or Mercury lamp.
• the LEDs 104 are blue or ultraviolet (UV) LEDs and may be high radiance devices, such as the type described in U.S. Serial No. 10/652,348, entitled "Package for a Semiconductor Light Emitting Device", by Frank Wall et al, filed August 29, 2003, Pub. No.
• the angular emission pattern of the LEDs 104 can be lambertian or controlled using a photonic crystals such as lattice structures.
• the light emitting diodes 104 are illustrated as being mounted on a submount 106, which may be, e.g., ceramic or silicon and may include the necessary electrical contacts for the LEDs 104.
• the submount 106 may be mounted on a heatsink 108. If desired, support structures other than the submount 106 and heatsink 108 may be used.
• Illumination device 100 includes a wavelength converting element 110 that is mounted on and held by a support structure 112 that includes an aperture 114. While not shown in Fig. 1, the support structure 112 may be physically mounted or connected to various parts of the illumination device as will be discussed below.
• the aperture 114 is positioned over wavelength converting element 110 to transmit the forward emitted light from wavelength converting element 110 (and any pump light from LEDs 104 that passes through wavelength converting element 110).
• the support structure 112 may be produced so that the aperture 114 is a hole through support structure 112, which may be manufactured from an opaque material through stamping, molding or machining.
• the support structure 112, by way of example, may be manufactured from a metal or metal alloy, such as aluminum, copper, or other appropriate material.
• the wavelength converting element 110 is attached to the overlapping portion 116 of the support structure 112 by, e.g., by epoxy, glass, solder or other appropriate material.
• the support structure 112 may be manufactured from a transparent material, e.g., LCP (liquid crystal polymer) glass, silicon, or other appropriate material, that is coated with a reflective material, e.g., on the surface 118 to which the wavelength converting element 110 is attached.
• the aperture 114 is defined by the absence of the reflective material.
• the assembly of the illumination device 100 is simplified and avoids exposing the LEDs 104 to large temperature excursions.
• the support structure 112 blocks blue light leakage while the wavelength converting element 110 blends the light from multiple dice while potentially providing an apparent contiguous light source.
• the sides of the wavelength converting element 110 may be covered with a reflective coating 120, such as a layer of aluminum, silver, or 3M ESR reflective film or any other appropriate reflective material, to recycle side emitted light from the wavelength converting element 110.
• a reflective coating 120 such as a layer of aluminum, silver, or 3M ESR reflective film or any other appropriate reflective material, to recycle side emitted light from the wavelength converting element 110.
• the overlapping portion 116 of the support structure 112 and/or the bonding material may be reflective to increase the recycling of the light that is not emitted through the aperture 114.
• the wavelength converting element 110 may be formed from a rigid material, particularly in the embodiment in which the aperture 114 is formed as a hole through the support structure 112.
• the wavelength converting element 110 may be a ceramic slab, sometimes referred to herein as a "luminescent ceramic".
• the ceramic slabs are generally self-supporting layers and may be translucent or transparent to particular wavelengths, which may reduce the scattering loss associated with non-transparent wavelength converting layers such as conformal layers.
• Luminescent ceramic layers may be more robust than thin film or conformal phosphor layers.
• materials other than luminescent ceramics may be used as the wavelength converting element 110, such as phosphors in a binder material.
• Examples of phosphors that may be formed into luminescent ceramic layers include aluminum garnet phosphors with the general formula (Lu 1-x-y-a- b Y x Gd y )3(Ali_ zGa z ) 5 Oi 2 :Ce a Pr b wherein 0 ⁇ x ⁇ l, 0 ⁇ y ⁇ l, 0 ⁇ z ⁇ 0.1, 0 ⁇ a ⁇ 0.2 and 0 ⁇ b ⁇ 0.1, such as
• Lu3AlsOi 2 :Ce 3+ and YsAIsOOiCe 3+ which emit light in the yellow-green range
• Suitable YsAl 5 OoICe 3+ ceramic slabs may be purchased from Baikowski International Corporation of Charlotte, N. C.
• a luminescent ceramic may be formed by heating a powder phosphor at high pressure until the surface of the phosphor particles begin to soften and melt. The partially melted particles stick together to form a rigid agglomerate of particles. Unlike a thin film, which optically behaves as a single, large phosphor particle with no optical discontinuities, a luminescent ceramic behaves as tightly packed individual phosphor particles, such that there are small optical discontinuities at the interface between different phosphor particles. Thus, luminescent ceramics are optically almost homogenous and have the same refractive index as the phosphor material forming the luminescent ceramic.
• a luminescent ceramic Unlike a conformal phosphor layer or a phosphor layer disposed in a transparent material such as a resin, a luminescent ceramic generally requires no binder material (such as an organic resin or epoxy) other than the phosphor itself, such that there is very little space or material of a different refractive index between the individual phosphor particles. As a result, a luminescent ceramic is transparent or translucent, unlike a conformal phosphor layer.
• binder material such as an organic resin or epoxy
• An anti-reflective coating 122 is deposited on the input side of the wavelength converting element 110, so that the anti-reflective coating 122 is between the wavelength converting element 110 and the LEDs 104.
• the coating 122 may be a color separation element, such as a dichroic filter, which transmits the blue pump light and reflects the wavelengths in the range of the light converted by the wavelength converting element 110.
• the color separation element 116 may be a high angular acceptance coating that is directly applied to the input side 111 of the wavelength converting element 110, which is facing the light source 102. As illustrated in Fig.
• the support structure 112 may be positioned so that the wavelength converting element 110 is physically separated from the light source 102 along the optical path (generally illustrated by arrow 103).
• the wavelength converting element 110 (and the anti-reflective coating 122) is not in contact with the light source 102.
• the medium between the wavelength converting element 110 (and the anti-reflective coating 122), and the light source 102 may be, e.g., air, gas, or a vacuum.
• light emitted by the light source 102 must travel through the gap between the light source 102 and the wavelength converting element 110 (and the anti-reflective coating 122).
• the length of the physical separation between the light source 102 and the wavelength converting element 110 may vary, but in one embodiment is in the range of 50 ⁇ m-250 ⁇ m. In one embodiment, the physical separation between the light source 102 and the wavelength converting element 110 is sufficient to prevent substantial conductive heating of the wavelength converting element 110 by the light source 102. In another embodiment, a filler or bonding material, such as silicone gel or other appropriate material, may be used to fill the gap between the light source 102 from the wavelength converting element 110.
• Fig. 2 is a side view that illustrates an illumination device 150, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.
• the illumination device 150 is substantially similar to the illumination device 100, shown in Fig. 1, like designated elements being the same.
• the support structure 112 in the illumination device 150 holds the wavelength converting element 110 so that there is no gap between the wavelength converting element 110 and the light source 102, i.e., the wavelength converting element 110 is in physical contact with the light source 102 via the anti-reflective coating 122.
• the wavelength converting element 110 may be bonded to the light source 102 if desired for optimal optical coupling.
• Fig. 3 is a side view that illustrates an illumination device 200, which is substantially similar to the illumination device 100, shown in Fig. 1, like designated elements being the same.
• the illumination device 200 includes an optical element 202, such as a dome lens within the aperture 114.
• the optical element 202 may be mounted to the wavelength converting element 110 through the aperture 114.
• the support structure 112 is a transparent material with a reflective coating to define the aperture 114, the optical element 202 may be bonded to or integrally formed with the support structure 112. It should be understood that the support structure 112 of illumination device 200 may be positioned to place the wavelength converting element 110 in contact with the light source 102, as illustrated in Fig. 2.
• FIG. 4 illustrates an optical element 220 being attached to the illumination device 100, as illustrated by arrow 222.
• the optical element 220 includes a protrusion 224 that is sized to fit aperture 114.
• aperture 114 acts as a registration for optical element 220.
• Fig. 5 illustrates a side view of an illumination device 300 that is similar to illumination device 200 shown in Fig. 3, but with the support structure 312 mounted to an enlarged substrate 308.
• Fig. 6 is similar to Fig.

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• 2007
  • 2007-05-25 US US11/754,210 patent/US7700967B2/en active Active
• 2008
  • 2008-05-19 TW TW097118395A patent/TWI446592B/zh active
  • 2008-05-21 JP JP2010508955A patent/JP5439365B2/ja active Active
  • 2008-05-21 EP EP08751277.8A patent/EP2162925B1/en active Active
  • 2008-05-21 BR BRPI0812044A patent/BRPI0812044B1/pt active IP Right Grant
  • 2008-05-21 KR KR1020097027125A patent/KR101477474B1/ko active Active
  • 2008-05-21 RU RU2009148312/28A patent/RU2470413C2/ru active
  • 2008-05-21 CN CN2008800175121A patent/CN101711435B/zh active Active
  • 2008-05-21 WO PCT/IB2008/051999 patent/WO2008146200A1/en not_active Ceased

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