Ceramic LED Package with Thick Supporting Plate for Thermal Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-power LED packages face heat buildup issues due to resistivity in electrical paths and MCPCBs, leading to performance degradation and potential device failure.
Innovation Solution
The package incorporates a ceramic substrate with patterned metal contact pads on the top surface and a thick, thermally conductive supporting plate on the bottom surface, made of materials like copper, with an interface layer of metals such as tungsten, nickel, and silver, facilitating heat transfer to an external heat sink without an intervening MCPCB, and a cover member with a metal contact for electrical connectivity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional MCPCB is used to provide electrical connections and mechanical support, then electrical conductivity and structural support are achieved, but thermal resistance increases and heat dissipation efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the MCPCB from the package structure, extracting the problematic thermal resistance source. The substrate is directly mounted on the heat sink, eliminating the additional thermal interface resistance that would be introduced by an MCPCB layer, thereby improving heat dissipation efficiency while maintaining electrical connectivity through redesigned contact pads.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the thermal management function from the electrical connection function. The substrate serves primarily as an electrical connection platform with integrated contact pads, while a separate thick supporting plate handles thermal conduction to the heat sink. This segmentation allows optimization of each component's specific function without compromise.
2Illumination intensity
If high operating current is used to achieve high brightness, then light output increases, but heat generation increases and device performance degrades
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the harmful heat generated by high-current operation into a manageable thermal conduction problem. By implementing a thick supporting plate with high thermal conductivity directly coupled to the substrate, the heat that would otherwise degrade performance is efficiently conducted away, enabling high brightness operation without thermal penalties.
3Temperature
If a thick supporting plate is added to improve heat transfer, then thermal conductivity improves, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the supporting plate and substrate into a closely integrated structure where the thick supporting plate is directly mounted to the substrate's bottom surface. This integration reduces the number of separate components and simplifies assembly, while the plate's thickness is optimized to provide sufficient thermal conduction without excessive complexity.
4Stability of the object's composition
If peripheral contact pads and supporting plate are made of equal thickness, then thermal stress balance is improved and substrate deformation is prevented, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the thickness parameter of the contact pads and supporting plate to be equal, creating a balanced thermal stress distribution. This parameter optimization compensates for the increased manufacturing precision requirements by distributing stresses uniformly, preventing substrate warping and deformation while maintaining structural integrity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration effectively reduces thermal resistance by up to 50% compared to conventional packages, allowing higher power operation and preventing substrate deformation, enabling higher brightness and reliability in LED devices.
Implementation Method 1
a bottom surface of the substrate is patterned with a thick, thermally conductive supporting plate (which can be made of metal and/or other materials with high thermal conductivity) that can be attached to an external heat sink
Implementation Method 2
The bottom supporting plate and the thick contact pads can each include an interface layer made up of sub-layers of different metals, including, e.g., a tungsten sub-layer and a nickel sub-layer, a gold sub-layer, and/or a silver sub-layer
Implementation Method 3
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that produces light when an electric current is passed through it
Implementation Method 4
In operation, an LED package generates heat, partly due to the LEDs themselves and partly due to the resistivity of the electrical paths connected through the MCPCB and substrate to the LEDs
Data Source
AI summary
Packages for LED-based light devices include interface structures that can facilitate heat transfer from the package to a heat sink. The package can include multiple LEDs mounted on a ceramic substrate that provides electrically conductive pathways between the LEDs and metal contact pads at a peripheral region of a top surface of the substrate. A bottom surface of the substrate can be patterned with a plate, such as a thick supporting plate, made of metal and/or other materials with high thermal conductivity, that can be attached to an external heat sink.