Effects of humidity on the electro-optical-thermal characteristics of high-power LEDs

LEDs are subjected to environments with high moisture in many applications. In this paper, the experiments reveal photometric and colorimetric degradation at high humidity. Corresponding spectral power analysis and parameter extraction indicate that the flip-chip bonded LED samples show accelerated chip failure compared to the conventionally bonded samples. The chip-related failure induces greater heat accumulation, which correlates with the increase in heating power observed in the package. However, the temperature rise and thermal resistance for the flip-chip bonded LEDs do not increase substantially as compared to the conventionally bonded LEDs. This is because the junction temperature can be reduced with a flip-chip die-bonding configuration where the heat generated in the LED chip is dissipated effectively onto the AlN substrate, thereby reducing the increase in temperature rise and thermal resistance. The experimental results are supported by evaluation of the derivative structure functions. In addition, as the thermal resistance of the LED package varies with different humidity levels, there is a need to specify the conditions of humidity in data sheets as LED manufacturers routinely specify a universal thermal resistance value under a fixed operating condition.