US 7525126 B2
The present application discloses a light source comprising an LED die having an emitting surface and an optical element including a base, an apex smaller than the base, and a converging side extending between the base and the apex, wherein the base is optically coupled to and is no greater in size than the emitting surface, and wherein the optical element directs light emitted by the LED die to produce a side emitting pattern.
1. A light source, comprising:
an LED die having an LED die emitting surface; and
an optical element including a base, an apex smaller than the base, and a converging side extending between the base and the apex, wherein the base is optically coupled to and is no greater in size than the emitting surface and the optical element is mechanically decoupled from the LED die and a gap between the LED die emitting surface and the base has a thickness on the order of a wavelength of light of interest in air;
wherein the optical element directs light emitted by the LED die to produce a side emitting pattern.
2. The light source of
3. The light source of
4. The light source of
5. The light source of
6. The light source of
7. The light source of
8. The light source of
9. The light source of
10. The light source of
11. The light source of
12. The light source of
13. The light source of
14. The light source of
15. The light source of
16. The light source of
17. The light source of
18. A direct-lit backlight comprising the light source of
The present invention relates to light sources. More particularly, the present invention relates to light sources in which light emitted from a light emitting diode (LED) is extracted using an optical element.
LEDs have the inherent potential to provide the brightness, output, and operational lifetime that would compete with conventional light sources. Unfortunately, LEDs produce light in semiconductor materials, which have a high refractive index, thus making it difficult to efficiently extract light from the LED without substantially reducing brightness, or increasing the apparent emitting area of the LED. Because of a large refractive index mismatch between the semiconductor and air, an angle of an escape cone for the semiconductor-air interface is relatively small. Much of the light generated in the semiconductor is totally internally reflected and cannot escape the semiconductor thus reducing brightness.
Previous approaches of extracting light from LED dies have used epoxy or silicone encapsulants, in various shapes, e.g. a conformal domed structure over the LED die or formed within a reflector cup shaped around the LED die. Encapsulants have a higher index of refraction than air, which reduces the total internal reflection at the semiconductor-encapsulant interface thus enhancing extraction efficiency. Even with encapsulants, however, there still exists a significant refractive index mismatch between a semiconductor die (typical index of refraction, n of 2.5 or higher) and an epoxy encapsulant (typical n of 1.5).
Recently, it has been proposed to make an optical element separately and then bring it into contact or close proximity with a surface of an LED die to couple or “extract” light from the LED die. Such an element can be referred to as an extractor. Examples of such optical elements are described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2002/0030194A1, “LIGHT EMITTING DIODES WITH IMPROVED LIGHT EXTRACTION EFFICIENCY” (Camras et al.).
The present application discloses a light source comprising an LED die having an emitting surface and an optical element including a base, an apex smaller than the base, and a converging side extending between the base and the apex, wherein the base is optically coupled to and is no greater in size than the emitting surface, and wherein the optical element directs light emitted by the LED die to produce a side emitting pattern. The above summary of the present invention is not intended to describe each disclosed embodiment or every implementation of the present invention. The Figures and the detailed description below more particularly exemplify illustrative embodiments.
The invention may be more completely understood in consideration of the following detailed description of various embodiments of the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings, where like reference numerals designate like elements. The appended drawings are intended to be illustrative examples and are not intended to be limiting. Sizes of various elements in the drawings are approximate and may not be to scale.
Recently, it has been proposed to make optical elements to more efficiently “extract” light from an LED die. Extracting optical elements are made separately and then brought into contact or close proximity with a surface of the LED die. Such optical elements can be referred to as extractors. Most of the applications utilizing optical elements such as these have shaped the optical elements to extract the light out of the LED die and to emit it in a generally forward direction. Some shapes of optical elements can also collimate light. These are known as “optical concentrators.” See e.g. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2002/0030194A1 “LIGHT EMITTING DIODES WITH IMPROVED LIGHT EXTRACTION EFFICIENCY” (Camras et al.); U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/977577, “HIGH BRIGHTNESS LED PACKAGE”; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/977249, titled “LED PACKAGE WITH NON-BONDED OPTICAL ELEMENT”.
Side emitting optical elements have also been proposed. See U.S. Pat. No. 7,009,213 titled “LIGHT EMITTING DEVICES WITH IMPROVED LIGHT EXTRACTION EFFICIENCY” (Camras et al.; hereinafter “Camras et al. '213”). The side-emitters described in Camras et al. '213 rely on mirrors to redirect the light to the sides.
The present application discloses optical elements that are shaped to redirect light to the sides without the need for mirrors or other reflective layers. Applicants found that particular shapes of optical elements can be useful in redirecting the light to the sides due to their shape, thus eliminating the need for additional reflective layers or mirrors. Such optical elements generally have at least one converging side, as described below. The converging side serves as a reflective surface for light incident at high angles because the light is totally internally reflected at the interface of the optical element (preferably high refractive index) and the surrounding medium (e.g. air, lower refractive index).
Eliminating mirrors improves the manufacturing process and reduces costs. Furthermore, optical elements having converging shapes use less material thus providing additional cost savings, since materials used for optical elements can be very expensive.
The present application discloses light sources having optical elements for efficiently extracting light out of LED dies and for modifying the angular distribution of the emitted light. Each optical element is optically coupled to the emitting surface an LED die (or LED die array) to efficiently extract light and to modify the emission pattern of the emitted light. LED sources that include optical elements can be useful in a variety of applications, including, for example, backlights in liquid crystal displays or backlit signs.
Light sources comprising converging optical elements described herein can be suited for use in backlights, both edge-lit and direct-lit constructions. Wedge-shaped optical elements are particularly suited for edge-lit backlights, where the light source is disposed along an outer portion of the backlight. Pyramid or cone-shaped converging optical elements can be particularly suited for use in direct-lit backlights. Such light sources can be used as single light source elements, or can be arranged in an array, depending on the particular backlight design.
For a direct-lit backlight, the light sources are generally disposed between a diffuse or specular reflector and an upper film stack that can include prism films, diffusers, and reflective polarizers. These can be used to direct the light emitted from the light source towards the viewer with the most useful range of viewing angles and with uniform brightness. Exemplary prism films include brightness enhancement films such as BEF™ available from 3M Company, St. Paul, Minn. Exemplary reflective polarizers include DBEF™ also available from 3M Company, St. Paul, Minn. For an edge-lit backlight, the light source can be positioned to inject light into a hollow or solid light guide. The light guide generally has a reflector below it and an upper film stack as described above.
The optical element 20 is optically coupled to the LED die 10 to extract light emitted by the LED die 10. The primary emitting surface 100 of the LED die 10 is substantially parallel and in close proximity to the base 120 of the optical element 20. The LED die 10 and optical element 20 can be optically coupled in a number of ways including bonded and non-bonded configurations, which are described in more detail below.
The converging sides 140 a-b of the optical element 20 act to modify the emission pattern of light emitted by the LED die 10, as shown by the arrows 160 a-b in
An optical element having at least one converging side can modify a first light emission pattern into a second, different light emission pattern. For example, a generally forward emitting light pattern can be modified into a second, generally side-emitting light pattern with such a converging optical element. In other words, a high index optical element can be shaped to direct light emitted by the LED die to produce a side emitting pattern. If the optical element is rotationally symmetric (e.g. shaped as a cone) the resulting light emission pattern will have a torroidal distribution—the intensity of the emitted light will be concentrated in a circular pattern around the optical element. If, for example, an optical element is shaped as a wedge (see
In some embodiments, the side emitting pattern has an intensity distribution with a maximum at a polar angle of at least 30°, as measured in an intensity line plot. In other embodiments the side emitting pattern has an intensity distribution centered at a polar angle of at least 30°. Other intensity distributions are also possible with presently disclosed optical elements, including, for example those having maxima and/or centered at 45° and 60° polar angle.
Converging optical elements can have a variety of forms. Each optical element has a base, an apex, and at least one converging side. The base can have any shape (e.g. square, circular, symmetrical or non-symmetrical, regular or irregular). The apex can be a point, a line, or a surface (in case of a blunted apex). Regardless of the particular converging shape, the apex is smaller in surface area than the base, so that the side(s) converge from the base towards the apex. A converging optical element can be shaped as a pyramid, a cone, a wedge, or a combination thereof. Each of these shapes can also be truncated near the apex, forming a blunted apex. A converging optical element can have a polyhedral shape, with a polygonal base and at least two converging sides. For example, a pyramid or wedge-shaped optical element can have a rectangular or square base and four sides wherein at least two of the sides are converging sides. The other sides can be parallel sides, or alternatively can be diverging or converging. The shape of the base need not be symmetrical and can be shaped, for example, as a trapezoid, parallelogram, quadrilateral, or other polygon. In other embodiments, a converging optical element can have a circular, elliptical, or an irregularly-shaped but continuous base. In these embodiments, the optical element can be said to have a single converging side. For example, an optical element having a circular base can be shaped as a cone. Generally, a converging optical element comprises a base, an apex residing (at least partially) over the base, and one or more converging sides joining the apex and the base to complete the solid.
Alternative embodiments of wedge-shaped optical elements also include shapes having a combination of converging and diverging sides, such as the optical element 22 shown in
The optical element can also be shaped as a cone having a circular or elliptical base, an apex residing (at least partially) over the base, and a single converging side joining the base and the apex. As in the pyramid and wedge shapes described above, the apex can be a point, a line (straight or curved) or it can be blunted forming a surface.
Preferably, the size of the base is matched to the size of the LED die at the emitting surface.
Similarly, when an optical element is coupled to an array of LED dies, the size of the array at the emitting surface side preferably can be matched to the size of the base of the optical element. Again, the shape of the array need not match the shape of the base, as long as they are matched in at least one dimension (e.g. diameter, width, height, or surface area).
Alternatively, the size of the LED die at the emitting surface or the combined size of the LED die array can be smaller or larger than the size of the base.
For example, if the LED die emitting surface is a square having sides of 1 mm, the optical element base can be made having a matching square having a 1 mm side. Alternatively, a square emitting surface could be optically coupled to a rectangular base, the rectangle having one of its sides matched in size to the size of the emitting surface side. The non-matched side of the rectangle can be larger or smaller than the side of the square. Optionally, an optical element can be made having a circular base having a diameter equal to the diagonal dimension of the emitting surface. For example, for a 1 mm by 1 mm square emitting surface a circular base having a diameter of 1.41 mm would be considered matched in size for the purpose of this application. The size of the base can also be made slightly smaller than the size of the emitting surface. This can have advantages if one of the goals is to minimize the apparent size of the light source, as described in commonly owned U.S. patent application titled “High Brightness LED Package”.
Optical elements disclosed herein can be manufactured by conventional means or by using precision abrasive techniques disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/977239, titled “PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURING OPTICAL AND SEMICONDUCTOR ELEMENTS”, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/977240, titled “PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURING A LIGHT EMITTING ARRAY”, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/288071, titled “ARRAYS OF OPTICAL ELEMENTS AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SAME”.
The optical element is transparent and preferably has a relatively high refractive index. Suitable materials for the optical element include without limitation inorganic materials such as high index glasses (e.g. Schott glass type LASF35, available from Schott North America, Inc., Elmsford, N.Y. under a trade name LASF35) and ceramics (e.g. sapphire, zinc oxide, zirconia, diamond, and silicon carbide). Sapphire, zinc oxide, diamond, and silicon carbide are particularly useful since these materials also have a relatively high thermal conductivity (0.2-5.0 W/cm K). High index polymers or nanoparticle filled polymers are also contemplated. Suitable polymers can be both thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers. Thermoplastic polymers can include polycarbonate and cyclic olefin copolymer. Thermosetting polymers can be for example acrylics, epoxy, silicones and others known in the art. Suitable ceramic nanoparticles include zirconia, titania, zinc oxide, and zinc sulfide.
The index of refraction of the optical element (no) is preferably similar to the index of LED die emitting surface (ne). Preferably, the difference between the two is no greater than 0.2 (|no−ne|≦0.2). Optionally, the difference can be greater than 0.2 depending on the materials used. For example, the emitting surface can have an index of refraction of 1.75. A suitable optical element can have an index of refraction equal to or greater than 1.75 (no≧1.75), including for example no≧1.9, no≧2.1, and no≧2.3. Optionally, no can be lower than ne (e.g. no≧1.7). Preferably, the index of refraction of the optical element is matched to the index of refraction of the primary emitting surface. In some embodiments, the indexes of refraction of both the optical element and the emitting surface can be the same in value (no=ne). For example, a sapphire emitting surface having ne=1.76 can be matched with a sapphire optical element, or a glass optical element of SF4 (available from Schott North America, Inc., Elmsford, N.Y. under a trade name SF4) no=1.76. In other embodiments, the index of refraction of the optical element can be higher or lower than the index of refraction of the emitting surface. When made of high index materials, optical elements increase light extraction from the LED die due to their high refractive index and modify the emission distribution of light due to their shape, thus providing a tailored light emission pattern.
Throughout this disclosure, the LED die 10 is depicted generically for simplicity, but can include conventional design features as known in the art. For example, the LED die can include distinct p- and n-doped semiconductor layers, buffer layers, substrate layers, and superstrate layers. A simple rectangular LED die arrangement is shown, but other known configurations are also contemplated, e.g., angled side surfaces forming a truncated inverted pyramid LED die shape. Electrical contacts to the LED die are also not shown for simplicity, but can be provided on any of the surfaces of the die as is known. In exemplary embodiments the LED die has two contacts both disposed at the bottom surface in a “flip chip” design. The present disclosure is not intended to limit the shape of the optical element or the shape of the LED die, but merely provides illustrative examples.
An optical element is considered optically coupled to an LED die, when the minimum gap between the optical element and emitting surface of the LED die is no greater than the evanescent wave. Optical coupling can be achieved by placing the LED die and the optical element physically close together.
In addition, it is preferred that the gap 150 be substantially uniform over the area of contact between the emitting surface 100 and the base 120, and that the emitting surface 100 and the base 120 have a roughness of less than 20 nm, preferably less than 5 nm. In such configurations, a light ray emitted from LED die 10 outside the escape cone or at an angle that would normally be totally internally reflected at the LED die-air interface will instead be transmitted into the optical element 20. To promote optical coupling, the surface of the base 120 can be shaped to match the emitting surface 100. For example, if the emitting surface 100 of LED die 10 is flat, as shown in
Suitable gap sizes include 100 nm, 50 nm, and 25 nm. Preferably, the gap is minimized, such as when the LED die and the input aperture or base of the optical element are polished to optical flatness and wafer bonded together. The optical element and LED die can be bonded together by applying high temperature and pressure to provide an optically coupled arrangement. Any known wafer bonding technique can be used. Exemplary wafer bonding techniques are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/977239, titled “Process for Manufacturing Optical and Semiconductor Elements”.
In case of a finite gap, optical coupling can be achieved or enhanced by adding a thin optically conducting layer between the emitting surface of the LED die and the base of the optical element.
In non-bonded embodiments, an LED die can be optically coupled to the optical element without use of any adhesives or other bonding agents between the LED die and the optical element. Non-bonded embodiments allow both the LED die and the optical element to be mechanically decoupled and allowed to move independently of each other. For example, the optical element can move laterally with respect to the LED die. In another example both the optical element and the LED die are free to expand as each component becomes heated during operation. In such mechanically decoupled systems the majority of stress forces, either sheer or normal, generated by expansion are not transmitted from one component to another component. In other words, movement of one component does not mechanically affect other components. This configuration can be particularly desirable where the light emitting material is fragile, where there is a coefficient of expansion mismatch between the LED die and the optical element, and where the LED is being repeatedly turned on and off.
Mechanically decoupled configurations can be made by placing the optical element optically close to the LED die (with only a very small air gap between the two). The air gap should be small enough to promote frustrated total internal reflection, as described above.
Alternatively, as shown in
The optical element and LED die can be encapsulated together using any of the known encapsulant materials, to make a final LED package or light source. Encapsulating the optical element and LED die provides a structure to hold them together in the non-bonded embodiments.
Additional non-bonded configurations are described in commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/977249, titled “LED Package with Non-bonded Optical Element”. Additional details relating to converging optical elements are described in co-filed and commonly assigned U.S. patent applications “LED Package With Wedge-Shaped Optical Element” , “LED Package With Compound Converging Optical Element” , “LED Package With Encapsulated Converging Optical Element” , and “LED Package With Non-bonded Converging Optical Element” which are incorporated herein by reference, to the extent they are not inconsistent with the foregoing disclosure.
The performance of extractors was modeled using “LightTools” software Version 5.2.0 from Optical Research Associates, Pasadena Calif. For each simulation, 30,000 rays were traced, using the following parameters:
Modeling results are shown in 2 plot types, labeled a and b. The first type (a) is an intensity contour plot, which is a polar plot where the radius represents polar angle, and the numbers around the perimeter represent the azimuthal angle. The darkness for grey scale plot at a certain position represents the intensity (with unit of power per solid angle) at the direction defined by the polar angle and the azimuthal angle. An intensity contour plot can represent light intensity distribution of a hemisphere (usually polar angle of 0° to 90° and azimuthal angle of 0° to 360° is chosen).
The second type (b) is an intensity line plot. An intensity line plot is a polar plot where the radius scale represents the intensity (with unit of power per solid angle), and the perimeter scale represents the polar angle. An intensity line plot represents a vertical slice through the light intensity hemisphere of the intensity contour plot. It shows the data of a constant azimuthal angle and the data of this angle +180°. The right part with the perimeter scale from 0° to 180° represents the data of this constant azimuthal angle, and the left part with the perimeter scale from 360° to 180° represents the data of this azimuthal angle +180° It is a more quantitatively readable representation of part of the data shown in the intensity contour plot.
These examples show that a variety of different emission distributions can be created depending on the shape and aspect ratio of the extractor, while maintaining high extraction efficiencies.
While the invention is amenable to various modifications and alternative forms, specifics thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and the detailed description. It should be understood, however, that the intention is not to limit the invention to the particular embodiments described. On the contrary, the intention is to cover modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Citas de patentes