Analyzing Thermal Module Developments and Trends in High-Power LED

Abstract

The solid-state light emitting diode (SSLED) has been verified as consumer-electronic products and attracts attention to indoor and outdoor lighting lamp, which has a great benefit in saving energy and environmental protection. However, LED junction temperature will influence the luminous efficiency, spectral color, life cycle, and stability. This study utilizes thermal performance experiments with the illumination-analysis method and window program (vapour chamber thermal module, VCTM V1.0) to investigate and analyze the high-power LED (Hi-LED) lighting thermal module, in order to achieve the best solution of the fin parameters under the natural convection. The computing core of the VCTM program employs the theoretical thermal resistance analytical approach with iterative convergence stated in this study to obtain a numerical solution. Results showed that the best geometry of thermal module is 4.4 mm fin thickness, 9.4 mm fin pitch, and 37 mm fin height with the LED junction temperature of 58.8°C. And the experimental thermal resistances are in good agreement with the theoretical thermal resistances; calculating error between measured data and simulation results is no more than ±7%. Thus, the Hi-LED illumination lamp has high life cycle and reliability.