FEBRUARY 2013

LEDsmagazine.com

Light engines
Modular SSL
approach P.49

Color science
Optimizing color
rendering P.57

Manufacturing
TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS OF LIGHT EMITTING DIODES
Large LED
substrates P.63

LED LAMPS
Lighting
manufacturers
take myriad
approaches P.33
________________
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 ISSUE 58

february Cover Story

2013 While incandescent lamps maintained

the same basic look over more than a
century, SSL retrofit lamp manufacturers
have adopted vastly different
architectures in an attempt to get the
LED point light sources to deliver an
omnidirectional beam (see page 33).

features
33 RETROFIT LAMPS Maury Wright
Varying approaches to LED retrofit lamps show no limit

40 LUMINAIRE DESIGN Tim Whitaker columns/departments

MHA Lighting takes unique approach to LED fixture
design with Rods with Holes technology 4 COMMENTARY Maury Wright
Complex color science underlies
45 STANDARDS Jianzhong Jiao, Osram Opto Semiconductors
ANSI works to standardize LED datasheet for white LEDs
good SSL products

9 NEWS +ANALYSIS

49 FOCUS ON Skyler Frink & Maury Wright

SSL modules
Lynk Labs LED light engine dims to warm
Toshiba announces GaN-
on-Si LED production start

57 COLOR SCIENCE George Kelly, Avnet

Understand color science to maximize success with
Konica Minolta buys Instrument Systems
Philips Lumileds announces
LEDs part 4 workhorse Luxeon T family
Siemens plans Osram spinoff

63 MANUFACTURING Marcus Weddle, ARC Energy

Manufacturing LEDs on large diameter substrates:
Cree announces LEDs for
directional applications
Whats the holdup? Philips introduces LED linear
and spotlight module

69 FINANCING Darren Riva, EEF

Energy Efficiency Financing scheme lights up the path
to green savings
72 DESIGN FORUM Fred Sawyer & Mladen Ivankovic, Infineon
Fixed-frequency and quasi-resonant flyback controllers
drive large LED strings
76 LAST WORD Menno Treffers, Zhaga Consortium
Zhaga helps SSL luminaire makers reduce costs and
supply-chain risks
25 FUNDING+PROGRAMS
Digital Lumens closes $10
million round of investment to
support continued expansion
Rubicon Technology closes $25 million
secured revolving credit facility
SEMI publishes HB-LED standard
relating to sapphire substrates
DOE publishes new Caliper reports
and year in review for the program

LEDsmagazine.com FEBRUARY 2013 3

commentary
Complex color
science underlies
good SSL products
C olor science is an incredibly complex
topic. I must say that I underestimated
the importance of color science in terms
of the ability of LED manufacturers and
solid-state lighting (SSL) lamp and lumi-
naire manufacturers to deliver high-qual-
ity products. Im nearing the end of three
years covering the LED and lighting space,
but still learning something new every day.
And Id highly recommend that you peruse
the fourth installment in our color science
series in this issue (p. 57).
Indeed, if you havent been following
the series, you might go back and read the
entire series even if you started a prior one
and decided the topic was just too complex.
The article in this issue includes web links to
each of the prior articles.
George Kelly, who manages Avnets Light
Lab, has done an excellent job on the series.
Ill concede that I found the first couple
of articles very technical and difficult to
understand. And many of us will never use
the math described. But the end of the third
article and the one in this issue brought the
theory into the light of real product design.
It turns out that its really important
to understand why two light sources that
are metamers of one another they have
the same effect on the eye even though the
spectral power distribution may be vastly
different wont necessarily render col-
ors equally well. The light reflected from an
object thats illuminated by the two different
sources will not be metamers of one another.
Its that ref lected light and the eye
response that matters. And in the SSL indus-
try we face confl icting goals of delivering
high efficacy, excellent color rendering, and
warm color temperature. The article in this
issue covers approaches to that task.
4 FEBRUARY 2013
I sure hope to convince George to write
one more article in the series, bringing even
more practical examples to light. Mean-
while, he has agreed to do a Webcast on
February 21 on the topic. You can register at
www.ledsmagazine.com/webcasts or view
the archive if you read this column after the
live event.
The rest of this issue covers topics rang-
ing from LED manufacturing to new pack-
aged LEDs to driver design to standards to
retrofit lamps. The News+Views section (p. 9)
includes a number of items related to the lat-
est in LEDs, including the move by Toshiba
to a gallium-nitride-on-silicon (GaN-on-Si)
manufacturing process. We also have new
components from Cree, Philips Lumileds,
and Bridgelux.
Retrofit lamps are among the most popu-
lar topics that we cover with you the reader.
That fact led to our choice of cover photo,
and to the feature article on the topic (p. 33).
Modular light engines are becoming
increasingly popular in SSL product design,
whether the module is a proprietary design
or based on an industry standard such as
Zhaga. You will fi nd modular coverage in
News+Views, in the Focus On feature (p. 49),
and in the Last Word column (p. 76) that was
written by Zhaga General Secretary Menno
Treffers. Treffers will also have presented a
Webcast on Zhagas progress by the time you
read this, but you can view the archive at the
prior Webcast link if you have missed it.
Please enjoy the issue. And I look forward
to seeing you at Strategies in Light. Come by
our booth and say hello.
Maury Wright, EDITOR
mauryw@pennwell.com
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT Christine Shaw
& PUBLISHING DIRECTOR cshaw@pennwell.com
EDITOR Maury Wright
mauryw@pennwell.com
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Nicole Pelletier
nicolep@pennwell.com
ASSISTANT EDITOR Skyler Frink
skylerf@pennwell.com
CONTRIBUTING Tim Whitaker
EDITOR twhitaker@pennwell.com
MARKETING MANAGER Jennifer Landry
PRESENTATION MANAGER Kelli Mylchreest
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Mari Rodriguez
SENIOR ILLUSTRATOR Christopher Hipp
AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT Debbie Bouley
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 FEATURED event
| online LED China
March 1-4, 2013
Guangzhou, China
Webcast LRC 25th Anniversary
March 20, 2013
Understanding how Zhaga Books enable a Troy, NY
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Philadelphia, PA

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The Nector S Power System - The
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Power LED Electrical, Thermal LED Expo Thailand
and Optical Characterization May 23-25, 2013
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ADVERTISERS index
Alpha ..................................................... 47
American Bright Optoelectronics............. 14
Bayer Material Science, LLC ................... 53
Cirrus Logic............................................ 24
Cree Inc. .............................................. CV4
CSA International ................................... 13
EBM-Papst Inc. ........................................ 7
Edison Opto Corporation ........................ 23
Epistar ..................................................... 1
ERG ....................................................... 70
Future Electronics Inc. ............................ 32
GKN Sinter Metals ................................. 70
Global Lighting Technologies .................. 37
Hangzhou Najing Technology Co. Ltd. ..... 12
Indice Ecotech ....................................... 61
Indium Corporation of America ............... 21
Instruments Systems GmbH................... 11
Inventronics (Hangzhou) Inc.................... 15
Konica Minolta Sensing Americas........... 71
Lambda Research Corporation ............... 16
Lauren Manufacturing ............................ 38
Ledlink Optics Inc................................... 19
Lightfair International ............................. 48
Matrix Lighting Limited, Hong Kong....... CV2
MBN GmbH............................................ 17
Metal Coaters ............................ 27, 29, 31
NMB Technologies Corporation............... 55
Optronic Laboratories Inc. ...................... 46
Orb Optronix........................................... 52
Philips Lumileds ....................................... 2
Proto Labs Inc. ....................................... 39
Recom Power Inc. ............................ 73, 75
Roal Electronics USA Inc. ....................... 71
Seoul Semiconductor ............................. 30
Shanxi Guangyu LED ............................. 18
Lighting Co. Ltd.
Shat-R-Shields ....................................... 42
Shenzhen Baikang Optical Co. Ltd. .............
5 Shenzhen Refond ............................ 28
Optoelectronics Co. Ltd.
Sichuan Jiuzhou Electric ........................ 43
Group Co. Ltd.
Signcomplex Limited .............................. 67
TE Connectivity ...................................... 44
The Bergquist Company ........................... 8
Thomas Research Products.................... 68
Topco Green Synergy Group ................... 51
Underwriters Laboratories ...................... 35
Unilumin Group Co. Ltd........................... 20
Verde Designs........................................ 71

6 FEBRUARY 2013 LEDsmagazine.com

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news views
LED MODULE

Lynk Labs LED light

engine dims to warm
Lynk Labs has announced a new chip-on-board (COB) mod-
ule in its SnapBrite family of products that for the first time
relies on mid-power LEDs combined with AC-driver cir-
cuitry. The 114-mm-diameter SR114 solid-state lighting (SSL)
module accepts 120-VAC input direct from the power line
and delivers 2000 lm at an operating temperature of 65C.
The new module achieves 100-lm/W efficacy based on the
mid-power LEDs used and the efficiency of AC-drive technol-
ogy that eliminates a power conversion stage relative to more
typical DC-driven LEDs. The 100 lm/w result includes all
the required drive and protection circuitry to run the mod-
ule direct from the mains, said Chick Huber, vice president
of business development at Lynk Labs.
The SR114 is the fi rst of a number of products that will
use the general design captured in the new module. Th is
first product features a 3800K CCT and CRI of 83, and when
dimmed, using a legacy triac or phase-cut dimmer, delivers a
warmer color temperature mimicking an incandescent lamp.
CEO Mike Miskin said that the company has a number of
options in how to implement the dim-to-warm technology
including using some amber or red LEDs. This first design,
however utilizes two channels. One channel uses 4000K
LEDs and the second uses very warm 2200K LEDs.
At full brightness, the 4000K LEDs deliver the bulk of the
light and the enhanced efficacy thats common in higher-
color-temperature LEDs. As the product is dimmed to lower
drive currents, energy usage is generally decreased and the
warm-CCT LEDs contribute more of the light mix.
The module delivers a 120 beam pattern that enables its
use in applications such as downlights, flush-mount fixtures,
and ceiling fans. Miskin said, Now that we have reached 100-
lm/w plug top efficiency with incandescent quality dimming,
AC LEDs can fill the need for cost-sensitive, form-factor-chal-
lenged lighting applications with high system efficiency.
The initially available SR114 uses Epistar mid-power
LEDs. At press time the LEDs had not been fully LM-80 qual-
ified. Miskin said, however, that such tests are ongoing and
that the qualification should be in place around mid-Feb-
ruary. He also added that based on customer requirements,
Lynk Labs can utilize a variety of LED types to meet specific
application needs.
MORE: www.ledsmagazine.com/news/10/1/10

SILICON LEDS

Toshiba announces GaN-on-Si LED production start

Toshiba announced in December that it began
producing white LEDs on 200-mm (8-in) sil-
icon substrates. The TL1F1 1W gallium-on-
silicon (GaN-on-Si) LED is the fi rst product
and will deliver a maximum of 112 lm at 350-
mA drive current. The combination of larger
wafers and access to automated back-end
manufacturing tools in depreciated IC fabs
has the potential of lowering the cost of LEDs
and accelerating SSL deployment, although obstacles remain in
reaching the optical efficiency of sapphire-based LEDs.
Subsequent to the announcement of production start, Toshiba
posted data sheets that reveal that the GaN-on-Si LEDs will ini-
tially come in a choice of 3000K, 4000K, 5000K CCTs (www.leds-
_______
magazine.com/news/10/1/3.) The 5000K cool-
white LED comes in 70 and 80 CRI, and the
70-CRI TL1F1-NW0 offers the top efficacy spec
mentioned previously. Both the 4000K TL1F1-
WH1,L and 3000K TL1F1-LW1,L deliver 84
lm/W. And both offer a CRI of 80.
The efficacy figures dont match the lat-
est sapphire-based LEDs. For comparison,
Cree announced the new XM-L2 LED family
recently that is similar in size (p. 12). The Cree LED measures 55
mm while the Toshiba LED measures 6.45 mm. Cree said the
XM-L2 LED can deliver 186 lm/W in cool white at 350-mA drive
current. But if the Toshiba LEDs deliver the anticipated reduction
in costs, the products could do very well. page 10

LEDsmagazine.com FEBRUARY 2013 9

news+views
Toshiba from page 9
Weve been expecting more news from
the GaN-on-Si players throughout the
fall. Azzurro Semiconductors has been
attacking the problem building tem-
plate wafers that have the base GaN layer
applied, upon which LED companies can
then build their own LED structures.
That company has been linked to both
Osram Opto Semiconductors (www.leds-
_______
_________________
magazine.com/news/9/1/19) and Epistar
(www.ledsmagazine.com/news/9/10/9).
Partners Lattice Power from China and
Plessey Semiconductors from the UK are
also working on the technology (www.
____
ledsmagazine.com/news/9/6/12). Lattice
had claimed that it was in production of
such devices back in the summer, but SSL
products using such LEDs havent been in
evidence.
MORE: www.ledsmagazine.com/news/9/12/18
BUSINESS
Konica Minolta buys
Instrument Systems
Instrument Systems GmbH, one of the LED
industrys best-known light-measurement
companies, has been acquired by Konica
Minolta Optics, Inc., effective December 1.
Instrument Systems was founded in 1986 by
its president, Richard Distl, and is based in
Munich, Germany. The company supplies
a comprehensive range of light measuring
products for industrial and research applica-
tions. Key applications are LED and display
measurement, as well as spectroradiometry
and photometry. The subsidiary company
Optronik Berlin GmbH is also included in
the sale.
Instrument Systems has posted very
strong growth in recent years, and its
2011/12 financial year, which closed in June
2012, produced the best results since the
company was founded. Combined sales with
the Optronik Berlin subsidiary rose by 27%
to EUR 30.3 million ($39.6 million), up from
EUR 23.9 million in the year ended June 2011.
Konica Minolta Optics was interested in
Instrument Systems reputation in the LED
field. Toshihiko Karasaki, president of Kon-
ica Minolta Optics, said: Our goal is to have
a leading global position in all our corporate
10 FEBRUARY 2013
divisions and to integrate international tal-
ent within our group. Instrument Systems
is the best company in LED lighting mea-
surement to consistently implement this
strategy.
The acquisition of Instrument Sys-
tems came several weeks after CSA Group
acquired LED testing company Orb Optronix
(www.ledsmagazine.com/news/9/11/12).
MORE: www.ledsmagazine.com/news/9/12/6
PACKAGED LEDS
Philips Lumileds announces
workhorse Luxeon T family
Philips Lumileds has introduced the new
Luxeon T series of high-power LEDs that tar-
get SSL applications with directional-beam
requirements including downlights, and
MR16 and PAR retrofit lamps. The LEDs set
new efficacy milestones for Lumileds achiev-
ing 140 lm/W at 350 mA of drive current.
Lumileds CEO Pierre Yves Lesaicherre
emphasized that Lumileds considers the
Luxeon T much more than an evolution of
the Lumileds family saying, The Luxeon T
is going to be the workhorse in terms of high
efficacy. Clearly Lumileds expects Luxeon T
to be the product of choice for applications
in which the LED is expected to produce
maximum forward light.
Lumileds claims several breakthroughs
for the new series beyond efficacy, includ-
ing what it says is an industry-lowest 2.7V
forward voltage and 3C/W thermal resis-
tance. Product line director Kathleen Hart-
nett said that only one other LED maker
has reached 2.8V and that most are at 3V or
above. The lower forward voltage simplifies
the thermal design especially critical in
space-constrained directional lamps such
as MR16 retrofits.
Lumileds will offer the LEDs in 3-step
MacAdam ellipse bins, tested at 85C.
Lesaicherre said that the company is not
matching phosphor tiles with emitters the
way it did in the original Rebel Lumiramic-
based LEDs to reach the tight binning, but
instead controlling the epitaxial (epi) pro-
cess more tightly. Weve narrowed the epi
distribution to 1 to 2 bins, said Lesaicherre .
Indeed, better process control is behind
both the binning and the lower forward volt-
age. Lesaicherre said, The conversion to 6-in
substrates has really helped because we have
more modern equipment. Specifically, he
said they have tighter control of tempera-
ture and gas distribution in the epi process.
The LED package measures 3.73.7 mm.
The prior Luxeon A product targeted simi-
lar applications but features a rectangular
package. The new LEDs offer a minimum CRI
of 80, and optionally a CRI of 95, across the
full range of CCTs, including 2700K, 3000K,
3500K, 4000K, and 5000K.
Lime-green LED
Lesaicherre also commented on the mys-
terious lime-green LED that is presum-
ably very important to the function of the
Philips Lighting color-changing Hue lamp
(www.ledsmagazine.com/news/9/10/25).
Lesaicherre was guarded with details but
said that Lumileds had advanced the effi-
cacy of green LEDs that in general has
trailed other colored LEDs industry wide.
The Hue lamp uses five of the lime-green
LEDs, four red LEDs, and 2 blue LEDs. That
means that the green LED is approach-
ing the efficacy of the red ones. The lime-
green color itself was not the source of the
efficacy gain. Instead, that lime-green LED
better enables the mixture to deliver the full
color-tunable range according to Lumileds
Hartnett. Lumileds does plan to offer a lime-
green LED commercially, but is still mull-
ing over plans as to which Luxeon family in
which it will launch the product.
MORE: www.ledsmagazine.com/news/9/12/7
BUSINESS
Siemens plans Osram spinoff
After shelving its plans for an initial pub-
lic offering (IPO) of Osram, its lighting sub-
sidiary, Siemens has confi rmed that it will
conduct a spinoff of 80.5% of Osrams shares
(www.ledsmagazine.com/news/9/11/22). A
plan to conduct the IPO of Osram shares was
LEDsmagazine.com
 We bring quality to light.

Putting LEDs in the right light.

SSL solutions from the world leader in LED measurement

Instrument Systems set the benchmark in LED

testing with high-performance spectroradiometers
for photometric and colorimetric measurements.
Now we present another breakthrough in Solid-
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and integrating spheres.

Find out more about our innovations for SSL :

NEW: LGS 250
www.instrumentsystems.com/ssl
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Instrument Systems Germany Phone: +49 89 45 49 43 0 ssl@instrumentsystems.com www.instrumentsystems.com

news+views
finally shelved in July of 2012.
The transaction will result in Siemens
shareholders receiving one Osram share for
every ten Siemens shares. However, Siemens
still intends to retain a minority stake in
Osram, in which it wants to remain a long-
term anchor shareholder. To this end, Sie-
mens AG will retain a 17% stake in Osram
following the spinoff, with the Siemens Pen-
sion Trust holding the remaining 2.5%.
Implementation of the spinoff plans will
require the approval of at least three-quar-
ters of existing shareholders. The decision
will be made at the Annual Shareholders
Meeting scheduled for January 23, 2013, after
we went to press. The Osram IPO (www. ____
ledsmagazine.com/news/8/3/30) was fi rst
announced in March 2011, and scheduled
for fall 2011. But, as we reported in August
2011, Siemens delayed its Osram IPO plan
(www.ledsmagazine.com/news/8/8/28) due
to adverse market conditions.
Subsequent to the announcement of the
spinoff. Osram offered some insight on its
plans to both cut cost and invest in SSL. The
SSL segment is seen as a key one. At Strate-
gies in Light Europe 2012, Osrams Christian
Schraft said that the companys revenue for
fiscal 2011 (ended September 30, 2011) was
around EUR 5 billion, of which around 25%
was from SSL.
Osram will invest in production facili-
ties such as an LED assembly plant in China,
while at the same time selling other plants
that make products using older lighting tech-
nologies. Meanwhile the corporate reorgani-
zation program will result in the loss of an
additional 4700 Osram jobs by 2014 on top
of the 1900 jobs cut worldwide in fiscal 2012.
Most of the cuts that will be implemented
both in Germany and internationally are
aimed at production facilities with products
at the end of their product life cycle, or the
closure of smaller plants with lower sales.
The company plans to invest a low three-
digit million euro figure over the coming
years in the assembly plant located in the
Chinese province of Jiangsu. Th is plant is
in its fi nal completion stage, and its 1700
employees will manufacture products for
key segments of the Chinese market and the
entire Asia region. In five years time, Osram
expects this region to account for around
half of the global general-lighting market.
Wolfgang Dehen, CEO of Osram Licht AG,
pointed out that the reduction in staff is a
natural consequence of switching to newer
lighting technologies, particularly LEDs.
Compared to traditional products, the depth
of our added value in LED-based products
will be significantly reduced. Consequently,
the personnel increase in the future fields
will only partially compensate for the change
in the traditional business, he said.
MORE: www.ledsmagazine.com/news/9/12/2
PACKAGED LEDS
Cree announces LEDs for
directional applications
Cree recently announced the XLamp MK-R
packaged LED that integrates four die, and
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news+views
the XM-L2 single-die LED both for direc-
tional applications. The MK-R measures
77 mm and fits between the 55-mm XM-L
family and the 99-mm MT-G family. The
55-mm XM-L2 is a follow on of the origi-
nal single-die XM-L LEDs and Cree says that
its the brightest single-die packaged LED on
the market
The new MK-R LEDs deliver as much as
1600 lm at 15W in a 5000K CCT match-
ing the light output of many larger chip-
on-board (COB) LED arrays for SSL retrofit
lamps and luminaires (www.ledsmagazine.
com/news/9/12/22). The light output is
more in line with what you see from a COB
array, said Cree product marketing man-
ager Paul Scheidt.
In terms of efficacy, Cree is touting the
MK-R for reaching the 200 lm/W level. Cree
says that the product is the follow-on com-
mercial product to the laboratory 200-
lm/W efficacy achievement announced in
February of 2010 (www.ledsmagazine.com/
_______
news/7/2/7). Its amazing that Cree is able
to achieve a 200 lm/W LED so quickly, said 3000K CCT, 80 CRI, 700-mA drive current,
Nicola Vendrame, CEO of Linea Light group. and 85C junction temperature, the MK-R
The high efficacy of the MK-R LED means delivers 865 lm at 106 lm/W. And many
designs may drive the
LEDs even harder.
The sing le-d ie
XM-L2 LED, mean-
while, maxes out
at 1198 lm at 3A of
drive current, and
can deliver 186 lm/W
efficacy at a lower
drive current. The
second-generation
design targets direc-
tional SSL applica-
tions ranging from
retrofits for direc-
that we can drive the LED harder for more tional halogen lamps to street lights.
light output without creating heat issues. A number of Cree LEDs share the XM-L
Realistically, however, the LEDs will be moniker that is representative of the pack-
applied at much lower efficacy levels due age itself. The company offers both high-volt-
to higher drive current and in many age and multi-emitter LEDs in the overall
instances warmer CCTs. For example, at XM-L family. The new XM-L2 is a follow on to













 






 





 _______________
 

14 FEBRUARY 2013 LEDsmagazine.com

___________________________________
news+views
the single die XM-L announced in late 2010
(www.ledsmagazine.com/news/7/11/12).
Cree has announced several such sec-
ond-generation LEDs this year that all offer
SSL product developers the option to rede-
sign a product using fewer LEDs, or boost
the performance of a product using the same
number of LEDs. Moreover, second-genera-
tion LEDs only require 3000 hours of LM-80
testing for SSL products that use the com-
ponents to become Energy Star recognized.
The second generation XM-L2 offers 10%
greater lumen output at a 5700K CCT and 17%
better lumen output at 3000K. The products
are binned at 85C and 700-mA drive current,
and at 3000K deliver 224 lm and 112 lm/W.
Cree emphasized that its both the single-
die design and the performance that enables
SSL designers to break new ground. Crees
Scheidt said You can do a 50W MR16 with
just a single LED. Scheidt compared such
a theoretical MR16 with what he character-
ized as the best performing MR16 SSL lamps
on the market for replacing 50W halogen
lamps. The comparison lamps delivered 390-
525 lm using 7-10W of power. The theoreti-
cal Cree design would deliver 369 lm at 5W.
While the lumen output is lower for the
theoretical lamp, the beam angle is a tight 9
whereas the other lamps range from 15-25.
The Cree lamp would deliver CBCP of 7800
cd more than double the other lamps on
the market. Scheidt said, Because its a sin-
gle die, its much more efficient at turning
lumens to candela. The system efficacy on
the theoretical lamp is 75 lm/W.
MORE: www.ledsmagazine.com/news/9/12/14
LIGHT ENGINES
Philips introduces LED linear
and spotlight modules
Philips Lighting has launched a third-genera-
tion LED-based Fortimo Linear Light Module
(LLM) that targets applications such as out-
door lighting including roadway applications.
Philips also announced a new generation of
the Fortimo Spotlight Module (SLM) utilizing
COB LED technology.
The new LED LLM Gen 3 family is avail-
able in a choice of four lumen-output pack-
ages 1100, 1800, 3000, and 4500 lm. Philips
also offers a choice of 3000K or 4000K CCT,
and a CRI greater than 70. The LED SLM Gen
3 includes 2000- and 3000-lm versions with a
CRI of 90 and high R9 value for applications
such as retail.
Philips, is stressing the vertical illumi-
nance of the LLM products. Increasingly ver-
tical illuminance is proving more impor-
tant than horizontal illuminance in outdoor
applications especially where detection of
pedestrians is important. There is a discus-
sion of that issue in an article on the Street &
Area Lighting Conference that was in the Fall

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issue of our sister publica-
tion Illumination in Focus (www.
illuminationinfocus.com/features/3/11/4).
The Fortimo LED LLM provides excellent
vertical illumination for optimal facial rec-
ognition, enhancing that feeling of safety,
said Marina Kishkovich, product man-
ager outdoor LED lighting for Philips OEM
EMEA. Municipalities understand that
todays LED lighting technology not only
delivers fantastic energy savings but also
dramatically improves the quality of life for
residents. LEDs provide clear white light,
which has been proven to improve both per-
ceived and actual safety and comfort in res-
idential and urban lighting.
Moreover, SSL product developers can
now combine an LLM with a Xitanium
driver and achieve Constant Light Output
(CLO) functionality to combat lumen depre-
ciation over time and save energy. Invariably
lighting designers and specifiers choose a
product with a lumen-output specification
that will meet the required light level years
in the future accounting in the specifica-
tion process for expected lumen deprecia-
tion. The Philips Gen 3 product simply drives
the LEDs at lower current levels early in the
product life and over time driver gradually
increases drive current.
PACKAGED LEDS
Bridgelux introduces
Vero LED array
Livermore, CA-based Bridgelux has unveiled
the Vero LED array family, which offers new
advancements in design flexibility, ease of
use, and energy efficiency, says the com-
pany. Vero is also intended to be a platform
that will enable future integration opportu-
nities for smart sensors and wireless com-
munication technology.
news+views
Compared with existing Bridgelux LED
arrays, the Vero family offers an increase in
efficacy by up to 20%, a higher flux density, and
a simplified assembly process that streamlines
manufacturing and improves overall system
reliability. The Vero platform will be available
in four form factors with performance rang-
ing from 800 lm in warm white (3000K) up to
20,000 lm in cool white (5000K). There will be
multiple CCT and CRI options, including the
97 CRI Decor product option. The Vero plat-
form is currently being evaluated by Bridgelux
customers and will be broadly commercially
available in the first quarter of 2013.
The company says that with the new Vero
platform, more of the manufacturing pro-
cess building the COB arrays and combin-
ing them with the molded-plastic component
is automated. The array-body configuration
also makes it easier to add functionality in
the future, for example smart sensors or wire-
less-communication chips.
The Vero product is manufactured using
highly automated processes to reduce cost,

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and can be easily upgraded for the smart
applications of the future, said Jim Miller,
chief sales and marketing officer of Bridge-
lux. The Vero array offers our customers
the manufacturing and design capabilities
they need to open up new design possibili-
ties, while ultimately driving faster adoption
of LED lighting.
MORE: www.ledsmagazine.com/news/9/12/8
DISTRIBUTION
Future Electronics and Philips
Lumileds restructure agreement
The long-standing distribution agreement
between Future Lighting Solutions (FLS) and
Philips Lumileds, which kept Philips exclu-
sive to FLS and had FLS sell Philips LEDs
exclusively, has been restructured, enabling
Philips to sell its LED products through
other partners, and FLS to distribute other
suppliers SSL products.
Unlike other LED manufacturers, such as
Osram Opto Semiconductors and Cree, Phil-
____________
______________
ips has always sold exclusively through FLS.
The other supplier that sticks out from the
crowd is Nichia, the largest manufacturer
of packaged LEDs according to Strategies
Unlimited, who only sells directly through
their own network and does not use any
distributors.
The exclusive distribution agreement was
intended to last for another four years, with
a new five-year exclusive agreement being
signed in 2011 (www.ledsmagazine.com/
press/31644). However, the companies have
________
decided to expand into new markets, and
have determined the best way to do that is
to restructure the deal.
Our restructured agreement allows us to
continue our collaboration with a long-term,
trusted and successful partner. With the new
agreement, we are able to serve the needs of
our growing customer base and carry on our
widespread expansion into new target mar-
kets, said Pierre-Yves Lesaicherre, CEO Phil-
ips Lumileds.
FLS, meanwhile wasted little time in add-
ing another LED manufacturer to its line card.
The distributor and LG Innotek have signed
a worldwide distribution agreement through
which FLS will sell LG Innoteks entire port-
folio of LED lighting products, ranging from
packaged LEDs to integrated solutions.
We are excited about LG Innoteks
exceptionally strong portfolio of LED prod-
ucts, aggressive technology road map, and
unparalleled quality manufacturing capa-
bilities for the general illumination mar-
ket, said Gerry Duggan, executive vice
president of Future Electronics. Th is will
further strengthen our proficiency in serv-
ing our customers growing demand for best-
in-class LED lighting solutions.
MORE: www.ledsmagazine.com/press/37244
LICENSING
Solais Lighting licenses
ByteLight technology
ByteLight has signed a partnership agree-
ment with Solais Lighting as its inaugural
____________________
news+views
licensed lighting partner. This means Solais
Lighting is now licensed to manufacture and
sell ByteLight-enabled LED lamps.
ByteLight-enabled lamps from Solais
Lighting will serve as lights and positioning
beacons by transmitting proprietary signals
that can be picked up by camera-equipped
mobile devices carried by customers, visi-
______
tors, and workers within venues (www.leds-
magazine.com/news/9/10/12). When signals
are detected, each mobile device can calcu-
late its position without the need for an active
network connection. This enables venue own-
ers to deliver local content, interactive maps,
and indoor navigation features to users based
on their location inside the venue.
MORE: www.ledsmagazine.com/press/37248
BUSINESS
GE Lighting acquires
Albeo Technology
GE Lighting has signed an agreement to
acquire Albeo Technologies, an LED fi xture
__________
manufacturer based in Boulder, Colorado.
GE Lighting officials say the acquisition will
help GE serve as an advisor to enterprise
customers, as well as offer a more complete
and integrated family of LED-based SSL
products. Albeo Technologies was founded
in 2004.
Some of our biggest customers told us
they wanted a GE-quality solution for high
bay, notes Maryrose Sylvester, president
and CEO of GE Lighting. Th is acquisition
accelerates our development of cutting-
edge technologies that brings customers
the energy-efficient solutions they need.
Thats what customers get at the end of the
day a refi ned, highly modular and scal-
able platform that delivers the GE quality
theyve come to expect.
Albeos range of products includes high
bay and low bay lighting fi xtures as well as
linear, surface-mounted and under cabinet
lighting. Albeos products have been recog-
nized with 16 independently judged awards,
including six from the US Department of
__________
Energy (DOE).
MORE: www.ledsmagazine.com/news/9/11/18
FINANCIALS
SemiLEDs reports first
quarter results
SemiLEDs, a manufacturer of LED chips
and components, has announced its fi nan-
cial results for the first quarter of fiscal year
2013. Revenue for the quarter was $6.2 mil-
lion, an 8% decrease when compared to the
$6.7 million of revenue in first quarter of fis-
cal 2012.
As more of our customers have qualified
our EV products, the demand of our LED
chips and LED components has increased,
said Trung Doan, Chairman and CEO
of SemiLEDs. We are seeing pockets of
demand while the overall LED market is still
weak; we continue to manage cost, inven-
tory and spending with a focus on profit-
able LED sectors to achieve our positive
cash flow goal.

The company also announced improve-
ments in its EV-LED family with efficacy
hitting more than 130 lm/W for some prod-
ucts. The company said epi and chip process
advances resulted in a 10% gain in luminous
flux and an 8% decrease in forward voltage.
MORE: www.ledsmagazine.com/press/37387
DRIVERS
Cree announces
compatibility program
Cree has instituted a new Driver
Compatibility Program (DCP) for its LED-
based modular light engines that allows
luminaire designers freedom of a larger
choice of drivers and Cree warranty cov-
erage on the light engine. The DCP is ini-
tially applicable to the LMH2 SSL mod-
ules. Participating companies include AC
Electronics, Code Mercenaries, Harvard
Engineering, Inventronics, Lutron, NMB
Technologies, Opulent Solutions, Phihong,
Roal Electronics, Thomas Research
Products, and Xenergi Limted. Cree plans
to extend the program both to other mod-
ular products and more driver companies.
The biggest benefit of the DCP is warranty
centric. Previously, Cree limited its warranty
coverage on modular products to luminaire
designs that also utilized Cree drivers. The
new program does include Cree drivers in
the approved list. But the warranty cover-
age now applies equally to luminaires that
use other drivers in the program.
MORE: www.ledsmagazine.com/news/10/1/6
BUSINESS
Acuity acquires Adura Technologies
Acuity Brands has acquired the assets of
Adura Technologies, a developer of wire-
less controls and energy management tools.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed,
and the acquisition is not expected to mate-
rially impact Acuity Brands fi scal 2013
consolidated fi nancial performance.
Adura, which was founded in 2005, has
developed radio frequency mesh network-
ing technology that enables light fi xtures to
communicate with sensors, switches, and
management software. The technology is
based on the ZigBee wireless standard.
Aduras simple to use wireless technol-
ogy coupled with our broad luminaire port-
LEDsmagazine.com
news+views
folio, Sensor Switch occupancy sensors and Solder and
Lighting Control & Design system manage-
ment software will allow for the creation of
Fluxes for LEDs
intelligent lighting systems that are sim-
ple to use while generating greater energy
savings for our customers., said Vernon J.
Nagel, chairman, president and chief exec-
utive officer of Acuity Brands.
MORE: www.ledsmagazine.com/press/37388
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT
Lighting Science Group and
Nualight appoint execs
Lighting Science Group (LSG), an LED
lighting manufacturer based in Satellite
Beach, Florida, has appointed Jeremy Cage
as CEO, effective January 2, 2013. Ireland-
based LED lighting company Nualight,
meanwhile, has appointed Per Langholz
as its non-executive chairman.
New LSG CEO Cage is a former senior
executive with PepsiCo, Inc. Cage said that Solder Flux-Coated
he intends to accelerate growth at LSG by Paste Preforms
building on the companys core competen-
cies of excellence in innovation and strong
and differentiated brand development.
Cage added that LSG will focus on
unleashing the science of light and sustain- Flux Thermal
able technologies to markets ranging from
major cities, commercial centers, factories See us at
and retailers in developed markets to entire
cities and villages in developing and emerg-
Strategies in Light
ing markets. There is much to do, and I am Booth #707
eager to get started.
Nualights new chairman Langholz is the
former president of Sylvania Lighting Inter-
national, where he led the company to prof-
itable operation and annual turnover of over Learn more:
EUR400 million. He has over 25 years of expe- http://indium.us/F309
rience in the lighting industry. Langholz suc-
ceeds Eamonn Quinn of the Quinn family
that founded the Superquinn grocery chain.
Quinn will remain on the Nualight Group
board. Quinn welcomed the new appoint-
ment, saying, As we continue to grow glob-
ally and drive expansion into new market seg-
ments, Per Langholzs experience will make a
tremendous contribution.
The Nualight Group is a LED lighting www.indium.com
askus@indium.com
technology specialist with a core focus on
retail, and has pioneered LED lighting in ASIA  CHINA  EUROPE  USA
the refrigerated cabinets of many leading
2013 Indium Corporation
grocery retail chains. The company has
gone from startup status 5 years ago to
FEBRUARY 2013 21
 news+views
employing over 200 people in three loca- atonin production.
tions worldwide. Nualight is funded by Cli- The result for passen-
mate Change Capital, ESB Novus Modus, gers is better produc-
4th Level Ventures and the Quinn retail tivity or more enjoy-
family. ment over the course
of the arrival day after
LIFE SCIENCE a long trip.
Both psychologi-
Adaptive LED lighting improves cal and physiological
aircraft cabin environment reactions were ana-
Chronobiologically-adaptive SSL scenarios lyzed in the test sub-
in which the color and brightness of light- jects. The team used
ing is varied during long-distance over- medical instruments
night flights results in passengers that sleep to capture data such
better and are more alert upon arrival. as heart rate and
Partners Osram, Bergische Universitt ECG measurements.
Wuppertal, the Fraunhofer Institute to stimulate melatonin production and That data was analyzed alongside assess-
for Building Physics, Airbus, and Diehl increases passenger relaxation. Indeed, the ments completed by the test subjects and
Aerospace reached the conclusion of warm lighting was noted to reduce the heart by observers of the tests. The team believes
improved wellbeing attributed to adaptive rate in the test subjects and yield medically that the work can be applied using intelli-
LED lighting after tests in a model aircraft measureable improvement in sleep patterns. gent SSL systems in aircraft to help mini-
cabin over a period of six days. The study further revealed that blue-rich mize passenger jet lag by maintaining nor-
The team found that at the start of an cold light in the morning increased alert- mal circadian rhythms.
overnight flight that warm-white light helps ness. In part, the cooler light suppresses mel- MORE: www.ledsmagazine.com/news/10/1/1

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LEDMAG012013
 funding
programs
Rubicon Technology
closes $25 million secured
revolving credit facility
Rubicon Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: RBCN),
a leading provider of sapphire substrates
and products to the LED, semiconductor,
and optical industries, has closed a three
year $25 million secured revolving credit
facility with Silicon Valley Bank.
This undrawn credit facility bolsters
Rubicons strong liquidity position, said
SEMI publishes HB-LED standard
relating to sapphire substrates
The HB-LED Standards Committee of SEMI,
the global semiconductor industry associa-
tion, has approved its first LED-related stan-
dard, entitled SEMI HB1: Specifications
for Sapphire Wafers Intended for Use for
Manufacturing High Brightness-Light
Emitting Diode Devices.
LEDsmagazine.com
William Weissman, chief financial officer of
Rubicon Technology. We believe it is pru-
dent to establish this additional fi nancial
flexibility for the future, he concluded.
Rubicon currently has no debt. The terms
and conditions of the credit facility will be
described in the companys fi lings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
Developed by the HB-LED Wafer Task
Force, SEMI HB1 defi nes and specifies the
physical geometry of 150-mm-diameter sap-
phire wafers used in HB-LED manufactur-
ing. HB1 covers dimensional, wafer prep-
aration, and crystallographic orientation
characteristics, as well as the page 26
Digital Lumens closes
$10 million round of
investment to support
continued expansion
Digital Lumens rung in the New Year with
150% growth in its customer base and a
further commitment from investors to
support the com-
panys success in
LED lighting. The
company had more
than 500 large-scale
installations of its
Intelligent LED
Lighting System
last year.
Accord i ng to
estimates by Canac-
cord Genuity in
the "Third Cycle
V2.2" the overall
LED lighting mar-
ket grew 94% from
2011 to 2012. Digital Lumens grew much
faster than the overall market as custom-
ers deployed the Digital Lumens solution
oftentimes with multi-site roll-outs
based on the companys growing repu-
tation and demonstrated energy savings.
As it prepared itself for more growth
in 2013, the company has closed a $10
million round of funding from existing
investors including Black Coral Capital,
Flybridge Capital Partners, and Stata
Venture Partners.
These impressive numbers are proof
that the lighting market is moving rap-
idly to LED, and that Digital Lumens
continues to set the standard for per-
formance, efficiency, and value with our
customers, said Tom Pincince, President
and CEO of Digital Lumens. While we
have established a leadership position
in the industrial vertical, our integrated
intelligence is applicable to the entire
lighting market. We will use this latest
investment to accelerate our expansion
into new segments and international
markets, and to further develop our
product and service offerings.
FEBRUARY 2013 25
DOE Caliper report evaluates
LED PAR38 lamps
A recent Caliper report from the US
Department of Energy (DOE), which is
number 20 in the series, evaluates the
independently-tested photometric perfor-
mance of 38 LED PAR38 lamps.
The Caliper program supports testing of a
wide array of solid-state lighting (SSL) prod-
ucts available for general illumination. A
summary of the series 20 results is available
for download from the DOE SSL website.
The series 20 results show significant
improvement versus earlier Caliper testing
of similar products. All of the LED PAR38
lamps tested offer substantial energy sav-
ings compared to halogen PAR38 lamps.
Some of the LED lamps had higher effi-
cacy than compact-fluorescent (CFL) or
ceramic-metal-halide (CMH) versions.
The lumen output of many of the prod-
ucts was equivalent to 40W to 90W halo-
gen PAR38 lamps, and all emitted between
388 and 1363 lm. Efficacy of the LED lamps
ranged from 26 to 79 lm/W, although all
except one of the products was between 44
and 79 lm/W.
Further, LED products are available that
cover the full range of conventional PAR38
beam angles, and that have appropriate
color quality, lumen output, and center
beam intensity.
The LED PAR38 lamps had luminous
intensity distributions ranging from narrow
(8 beam angle) to very wide (64 beam angle);
the suitability of these distributions depends
on the application, but the availability of nar-
row distributions is an important finding.
In an improvement compared to earlier
testing, 37 of the 38 products had a power
factor higher than 0.70.
However, more options within specific
product families would be beneficial, and
LED lamps with higher lumen output may
be necessary for specialty applications.
And, as usual, lower prices would also be
beneficial to enhance the penetration of
LED lamps into the market.
Beginning in 2012, each Caliper sum-
mary report focuses on a single product
type or application. Products are selected
with the intent of capturing the current
state of the marketa cross section rang-
ing from expected low- to high-perform-
ing productswith the bulk characteriz-
ing the average of the range.
26 FEBRUARY 2013
SEMI from page 25
appropriate measurement methods.
The document was approved by the HB-
LED Committee during the North Amer-
ica Fall 2012 meetings, recently completed
procedural review and was to be published
in January 2013.
Improving manufacturing efficiency
and reducing cost are critical to enabling
high-volume LED manufacturing, and
150-mm sapphire wafers represent a key
inflection point.
Five categories of single-crystal, single-
side polished sapphire wafers are covered
in HB1, including: flatted 100-mm diame-
ter, 650-m thick, polished c-axis sapphire
wafers; flatted 150-mm diameter, 1000-m
thick, polished c-axis sapphire wafers; flat-
ted 150-mm diameter, 1300-m thick, pol-
ished c-axis sapphire wafers; notched 150-
mm diameter, 1000-m thick, polished
c-axis sapphire wafers; and notched 150-mm
diameter, 1300-m thick, polished c-axis
sapphire wafers.
SEMI believes that in order to reach the
full potential of LEDs, there is a need for the
global LED manufacturing supply chain to
collaborate on industry standards to elim-
inate unnecessary costs, and better enable
equipment and process innovation.
With this in mind, key industry stake-
holders created the SEMI HB-LED Stan-
dards Committee in late 2010. The Com-
mittee and Task Forces are comprised of
industry leaders in HB-LED devices, sap-
phire wafers, MOCVD wafer processing,
and key equipment and materials suppli-
ers to the LED industry.
Since formation, the HB-LED Committee
has initiated Task Forces on wafers, carri-
ers, assembly and automation. Committee
co-chairs are: Iain Black (Philips Lumileds),
Chris Moore (Semilab), David Reid (Silian),
and Bill Quinn (WEQ). Ongoing activities
include the following:
HB-LED Wafer Task Force (TF)
The HB-LED Wafer TF is already developing
a revision proposal for further refinements
to the HB1 standard including:
patterned sapphire substrate (PSS)-ready
specification for 100-mm and 150-mm wafers
double sided polished wafer specifications
definitions and specifications of impurities
and defects (wafer and bulk)
laser marking and identification
specification
bow, warp measurements.
HB-LED Equipment
Automation Task Force
The Equipment Automation TF has
developed draft document 5420A enti-
tled Specification for Cassettes for 150
mm Sapphire Wafers Used in HB-LED
Manufacturing.
To minimize impact to the industry, the
TF is leveraging existing 150-mm silicon
cassette standards with minor revisions.
Th is will allow interoperability with exist-
ing 150-mm equipment and any other 150-
mm compatible products.
Considerations were taken around the
cassettes pocket size and spacing so that the
sapphire wafers can be successfully trans-
ferred between cassettes with automated
handling equipment. A cassette standard
will also enable standardization of load
ports and transport systems.
HB-LED Impurities &
Defects Task Force
The Impurities & Defects TF will begin
experiments and test methods based on
responses to a survey aimed at identifying
sapphire wafer defects that are relevant
or important to HB-LED manufacturing,
as well as inspection techniques that can
be applied to identify, measure, or prevent
such defects.
Upcoming Meetings
The HB-LED Wafer TF, Equipment
Automation TF, and Impurities & Defects
TF will be meeting in conjunction with the
Strategies in Light conference (February
12-14, 2013) in Santa Clara, California.
Taiwan LED Safety Task Force
The LED Safety Task Force was char-
tered in late 2011 under the Taiwan EHS
(Environmental, Health, and Safety)
Committee to develop specifications and
guidelines related to LED manufacturing
equipment. The activities of the task force
will result in the development of an EHS
industry standard for equipment suppliers,
raw material suppliers, module makers and
other involved parties.
LEDsmagazine.com

Next Generation Streetlights guide covers
LED technology to financing
The Bay Area Climate Collaborative,
Energy Solutions, the California Lighting
Technology Center, and Public Financial
Management have partnered to produce a
guidebook for municipalities considering a
transition to SSL roadway lighting.
"Next generation streetlights: LED tech-
nology and strategies for action" is a new
guidebook intended to help municipalities
that are considering
installation of LED-
based street lights.
The Bay Area Climate
Collaborative (BACC)
and Energ y Solu-
tions co-authored
the solid-state light-
ing (SSL) guide with
assistance from the
California Lighting
Technology Center
(CLTC) at the Uni-
versity of California
at Davis and support
from Public Financial
Management.
The guide was written
primarily to assist San Fran-
cisco Bay area municipalities that are con-
sidering SSL installations. But the guide
would be informative to any municipality
considering LED-based roadway lighting.
The document covers topics ranging from
the basics of LED lighting technology to the
use of adaptive controls in roadway applica-
tions to financing options for SSL projects.
The BACC and Energy Solutions have iden-
tified more than 240,000 municipally-owned
fi xtures in the Bay area that are ripe for con-
version. "Upgrading these street lights to
LEDs would yield annual energy savings of 60
million kWh, enough to power 10,000 single-
family California homes, said Ted Pope, vice
LEDsmagazine.com
funding programs
president at Energy Solutions. "Furthermore,
advanced controls networks that tune light
levels, communicate status and provide other
features can generate additional energy and
maintenance savings through smarter man-
agement of street-light systems."
A number of SSL manufacturers and the
Pacific Gas and Electric utility are also part-
ners in the BACC-led Next Generation Street-
light Initiative that's focused on cata-
lyzing the conversion of more than
200,000 lights.
The partners announced the new guide
at the recent Next Generation Streetlight
Workshop held in Hayward, CA. Hay-
ward is in the process of upgrading 8000
street lights to SSL. "We know how benefi-
cial the upgrade to advanced street lights
is to a citys budget, to the environment,
and to public safety," says Morad Fakh-
rai, director of public works for the City of
Hayward. "We also know that a successful
transition can be complex. This guide is a
great resource and will be of great benefit __________________
to all forward-thinking cities."
"A city such as Hayward with 8000 lights
could save $450,000 per year or more in power
and maintenance costs, improve lighting qual-
ity, and reduce its climate impacts," said Rafael
Reyes, BACC executive director. "This is a good
time for cities to act given the currently sub-
stantial incentives available, low cost of financ-
ing and very attractive payback times."
The new guidebook is available in PDF form
on the BACC website. The BACC is a public-
private initiative of the Silicon Valley Leader-
ship Group with backing from Bank of Amer-
ica, Pacific Gas & Electric, and more than 70%
of the municipalities in the Bay area.
Previously GE Lighting announced a part-
nership with the BACC. "LED lighting has
been identified as a top opportunity for excel-
lent financial, community and environmental
FEBRUARY 2013 27
_____________

benefits, and GE has tremendous expertise on
efficient lighting solutions," said Rafael Reyes,
executive director of the Bay Area Climate
Collaborative. "Through our collaboration,
we will help local governments save millions
of dollars that can be reinvested to strengthen
the regional economy."
GE Lighting will support the program
DOE compares LED pendants
The DOE has also completed a Caliper report
covering LED pendant lighting, testing 11
linear products available in both an LED and
fluorescent versions. Fluorescent products
typically offer more different configurations,
whereas LED are typically only available in
one or two lumen packages. The report sug-
gests that, moving forward, LED products
EPA progresses on Energy Star luminaires
and lamps specifications
The US Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) has published version 1.2 of the
Energy Star luminaires specification and
released the third draft of version 1.0 of
the Energy Star lamps specification
both of which are being driven by the SSL
transition.
The EPA continues to tune its Energy
Star specifications for lamps and lumi-
naires, and manufacturers of LED-based
lighting products that want to seek Energy
Star status have new targets. Version 1.2
of the Energy Star luminaires specification
guides the design of directional and non-
directional SSL fi xtures while the Energy
Star lamps specification that is in draft
form targets retrofit lamps.
The lamps and luminaires specifications
aren't specific to SSL products, but LED-
based products are driving much of the
work in the specifications, because of the
efficacy and light output advancements in
SSL. Still, the EPA has backed off a bit in the
planned efficacy ramp.
Version 1.2 of the luminaires specifica-
tion is available on the EPA website. One
major change is the elimination of the pre-
viously announced plans to mandate effi-
cacy of 70 lm/W by September 1, 2013.
LEDsmagazine.com
funding programs
with outreach programs and sharing of the
expertise that it has gained through many
SSL street-light projects such as the ongoing
Las Vegas project that covers 50,000 fi xtures.
While we regularly write about impressive
numbers of LED street lights being installed
in the US and around the world, the transi-
tion is in its infancy.
would benefit from a wider range of lumen
packages.
The luminous efficacy of LED linear pen-
dants is often higher than the efficacy of
their fluorescent counterparts. The speci-
fied efficacy for the surveyed LED luminaires
reached 85 lm/W, with measured efficacy for
the products going as high as 79 lm/W.
The EPA has left the requirement at 65
lm/W until it considers version 2.0 of the
specification.
The new version also eases light output
requirements of some directional lumi-
naires such as ceiling-fan lights with
multiple heads and chandeliers. In such
non-directional products, the specifica-
tion calls for measuring the performance
of the light source, whereas in directional
products the performance of the inte-
gral luminaire is measured. The agency
noted that in the excepted applications,
the prior 800-lm minimum requirement
isn't appropriate. ___________________
The third draft of Energy Star lamps ver-
sion 1.0 test methods has been released as
well. These test methods include the ele-
vated temperature life test, ambient tem-
perature life test, elevated temperature
light output ratio, start time, and run up
time. The new draft has language that
clarifies the products that are and are not
eligible for Energy Star recognition. The
Elevated Temperature Life Test has been
modified. Moreover, there are changes in
luminous intensity distribution require-
ments and in uniformity of color over angle
requirements.
FEBRUARY 2013 29
_________________________

DOE updates the latest L Prize lamp
test results, rebate offers
The DOE has released another update of
its testing of the Philips Lighting LED
60W-equivalent retrofit lamp that won
the L Prize. The tests have reached what
the agency considers the equivalent of
18 years of household use with no fail-
ures. The DOE also released a summary
of rebates available for the SSL product
that range as high as $20 per lamp.
After 20,000 hours of operation, the
full lot of 200 sample lamps are all still
operating. Moreover, the DOE said that
average lumen maintenance remains
above 100% of their initial output. The
tests are being conducted in an envi-
ronment where the ambient tempera-
ture is maintained at 45C.
Based on typical household lamp use
that averages three hours per day, the
DOE says that the 20,000 hours is equiv-
alent to 18 years of residential usage.
Caliper 2012 year in review
The DOE has released a year-in-review of
its Caliper program, and suggests that LED
products are becoming more efficient, less
costly, and producing more light than ever
before.
In 2012, Caliper reports focused on a sin-
gle product type, rather than using a num-
ber of different lamps and luminaires in a
single summary report. By doing this Caliper
could provide more in-depth analysis of the
performance baseline of conventional prod-
ucts and the expectations for LED products.
The LED products that were examined in
2012 included floodlights, AR111/PAR36 lamps,
downright retrofits, BR30/R30 lamps, linear
pendants, wallwashers, and PAR38 lamps.
The DOE has reviewed years of Caliper
data and highlighted some trends, although
the agency warns that some of the points
may not be statistically meaningful. Still
the comparison shows where the SSL seg-
ment is trending.
One trend the DOE has noticed include
the rise of luminous efficacy over the years,
though 2012 saw a drop of 3 lm/W (from
LEDsmagazine.com
funding programs
Such a lifetime makes the lamp price
more palatable with Home Depot cur-
rently selling the product for $30.
Of course the price is even more attrac-
tive for consumers that can snare one of
the rebates being offered by certain util-
ities around the US. Efficiency Vermont
is offering a $20 rebate through Home
Depot stores in the state. The Southern
Minnesota Municipal Power Agency is
offering businesses a $20 rebate and con-
sumers a $15 rebate.
Puget Sound Energ y in Washing-
ton State is offering consumers a $10
rebate plus a $5 discount coupon usable
at Home Depot stores, as well as a $20
rebate for business customers. The L
Prize website includes a complete list
with other offers in Illinois, Colorado,
and Massachusetts.
55 lm/W) that may have been caused by
the inclusion of recessed downlight wall-
washers, which generally have a lower effi-
cacy regardless of their light source. Other
trends include a steady rise in CRI, with
___________________
the average rising 2 points this year to 82,
increased availability of appropriate CCTs,
and an increase in input power from a mean
of 7.7W (lamps only) in 2011 to 14.2W (lamps
only) in 2012.
Caliper has also identified some of the
possible limitations current LED offerings
have. These limitations include LED prod-
Rancho Cucamonga, CA Marietta, GA
ucts lacking the modularity of conventional 800-841-4565 800-669-0624
products, a lack of lumen package options, Jackson, MS
800-858-1203
Middletown, OH
877-669-3602
the initial cost of LEDs, and inaccurate man-
ufacturer claims.
When compared to other years, the 2012
Caliper reports suggest that price is being
reduced, and the lumen output of LED lamps
is increasing. The Caliper data shows that,
while LED products have gotten much more
competitive since 2006, there is still con-
stant improvement in quality, cost effec-
tiveness, efficacy, and control features.
FEBRUARY 2013 31
 
 
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lighting | RETROFIT LAMPS
Varying approaches to LED
retrofit lamps show no limit
After the incandescent lamp changed little in more than a hundred years, emerging SSL lamps show
remarkably diverse approaches in attempts to replace the incumbent, reports MAURY WRIGHT.
L
ED-based retrofit lamps remain the
most popular topic in the solid-state
lighting (SSL) industry, despite the fact
that a form factor such as the A-lamp does
little to support the inherent advantages
of LED sources. Still, the huge number of
retrofit-lamp sockets installed around the
globe make the retrofit lamp important to
both lamp manufacturers and users looking
to proliferate SSL tech-
nology and save
energy. And while
the basic size and
type of socket may
be fixed, manu-
facturers are tak-
ing vastly different
approaches to try and
win in what could be a
short-lived market.
Many of the lamp-
design topics we will dis-
cuss here could be exam-
ined relative to many
different types of retro-
fit lamps. The potential list
includes LED-based tubes
designed for linear fluores-
cent sockets and directional
and reflector products such as PAR, MR, and
BR lamps. In this article, however, we will
focus on omnidirectional A-lamps that are
the most prevalent lamp in use.
You need look no further than at a list of
the most popular articles on the LEDs Mag-
azine website for 2012 (www.ledsmagazine.
com/news/9/12/21) for proof of the appeal of
the topic at hand. More than 25% of the top
20 list had a retrofit lamp focus.
MAURY WRIGHT is the Editor of LEDs
Magazine.
LEDsmagazine.com
But ironically, the opportunity for com-
panies to sell retrofit lamps is inherently
limited. Socket saturation will occur fairly
quickly. As weve reported previously, out-
spoken Tempo Industries CEO Terry Walsh
predicted saturation within five years at The
LED Show last summer (www.ledsmaga-
__________
________________
zine.com/features/9/10/8).
Saturation will happen for two reasons.
FIG. 1. Philips Lighting has taken different
design approaches on the L Prize-winning
lamp, the EnduraLED family, and the new
Energy Saving LED A19 lamp (left to right).
First, demand will drop as long-lasting LED
lamps become predominant and dont need
to be replaced often. Second, purpose-built
SSL luminaires will make much better use of
LED sources and will become increasingly
popular even in residential applications. For
all of those retrofit-lamp startups out there
burning through venture money, the mes-
sage had better be get to market quickly. And
for companies such as Philips Lighting, that
may have invested more than anyone in ret-
rofit lamp development, good job but get your
money back in a hurry.
In actuality, there is still a huge oppor-
tunity. In a report issued in April
2012, Strategies Unlim-
ited repor ted that
there were $2.2 bil-
lion in LED-based ret-
rofit lamps sold in 2011.
The report projects 30%
annual growth through
2016. But saturation could
happen shortly after the 2016
timeframe.
Lamp design
Having covered the market a
bit, lets transition to a discus-
sion of the products and design
approaches. We will start with
Philips because of the noted suc-
cess the company has had including
with the US Department of Energy (DOE) L
Prize winning lamp and the latest change to
their design approach.
Philips has built retrofit lamps using
a number of approaches, but is proba-
bly best known for the remote-phosphor-
based designs that have a yellow or orange
tint when powered off. As we covered in a
recent contributed article, remote-phos-
phor designs that combine very efficient blue
LEDs with phosphor on a secondary optic,
provide an efficacy advantage over designs
that use phosphor-converted white LEDs
(www.ledsmagazine.com/features/9/7/6).
Moreover, remote phosphor can provide
FEBRUARY 2013 33
lighting | RETROFIT LAMPS

more consistent color main- approach (Fig. 1 on right). Philips is still using remote phosphor on
tenance because the phos- Competitors had cer- the 2700K lamp, but the phosphor is applied
phor is not subject to tainly questioned the look on an inner dome that isnt readily visible.
the heat generated by of the remote-phosphor The 5000K Daylight version of the lamp sim-
the LED, and therefore lamps. And some speci- ply uses phosphor-converted LEDs. Mane-
doesnt shift in color fiers would be unlikely gold said that the company would be updat-
over time. to use the lamps in fi x- ing its 75W- and 100W-equivalent lamps
The Philips remote- tures where the lamps to use the new design down the road,
phosphor design was first are exposed. The Home although the company just began shipping
revealed several years back Depot retailer even installed the 100W-equivalent EnduraLED product in
when the company announced signs near EnduraLED lamps December as we will discuss a bit later.
their entry into the L Prize com- explaining to customers that
petition for a 60W-equivalent the yellow or orange lamps emit- Best Buy Insignia lamp
retrofit lamp. The company first ted white light when powered While Philips moved to a planar mounting
commercialized the technol- on. Philips insisted all along that scheme for its LEDs, another new lamp on
ogy in the lamps sold under the performance was more impor- the market, the Insignia lamp from retailer
EnduraLED and Ambient LED tant than the off-state appearance Best Buy, took yet another approach to ver-
brands in different parts of the of the remote-phosphor lamps. But tically mounting LEDs for good light distri-
globe. Later, the company com- the new design could mean that the bution. Insignia is retailer Best Buys house
mercialized the L Prize winner that company felt pressure to offer lamps brand for many types of consumer electron-
had to meet higher standards than with more of a legacy look. ics including TVs. In November the company
the Energy Star-compliant FIG. 2. The Insignia lamp Todd Manegold, director announced the SSL lamp along with Cree
EnduraLED products. from Best Buy mounts Cree of LED lamps marketing at who is supplying the LEDs for the lamp.
Fig. 1 shows the L Prize LEDs inside the vertical Philips Lighting, said, We The design looks white and somewhat like
lamp on the left and the cooling surfaces directed at have been focused on repli- a traditional lamp, although you can clearly
EnduraLED lamp in the the globe on the opposite cating traditional sources. see the lamp is broken into three globe seg-
center. The products share side of the lamp. He said the company fi rst ments separated by what are apparently
the same shape and both attacked the problem of cooling surfaces (Fig. 2). What isnt apparent
are based on three illumination chambers delivering equivalent performance and is that the LEDs are mounted on the inside
with air-flow channels between the seg- the warm CCT of incandes- of those surfaces shining at the
ments for cooling. The LEDs are mounted cent lamps, and now is globe segment on the oppo-
near the center axis of the lamp in each addressing aesthetics. site side of the lamp. There
segment on a vertical circuit board thats Despite the similar is nothing in the center of
approximately perpendicular to the center shape of the lamps, the globe. The result is
axis. The LEDs are directed outward and w h ich M a negold a well performing 13W
slightly upwards and downwards to deliver referred to as iconic lamp with a good omni-
an omnidirectional beam. and easily recog- directional beam and a
There are, however, significant differ- nized as a Philips LED price of $16.99 for a 800-
ences in the designs. The L Prize lamp uses lamp, the new Philips lm 60W equivalent. Best
a different phosphor composition, and adds Energy Saving LED A19 Buy also offers a 9W, 450-
some red LEDs to deliver the combination lamps are much differ- lm 40W-equivalent lamp.
of the high 90 CRI required by the L Prize ent internally. The LEDs Reviews have been gener-
rules along with efficacy over 90 lm/W. The are mounted on a plane per- ally positive for the dimming
lower-cost EnduraLED product uses a phos- pendicular to the center axis performance as well. The design
phor that absorbs more of the blue LED light, of the lamp, projecting light team behind the product remains
still delivers the warm 2700K CCT, but offers upwards into the light chamber. unknown at this point. While Cree
less lumen output and lower efficacy. The optic itself must ensure that participated in the announcement,
the lamps still deliver an omnidi- the company said it did not design
Philips new architecture rectional distribution. And clearly the lamp. The company did per-
Interestingly, Philips just announced a new the design works, because the form its Thermal, Electri-
60W-equivalent lamp family at the end of 2700K version that Philips calls FIG. 3. Rambus has used cal, Mechanical, Photomet-
2012 that maintains the general shape of the Soft White has already gained a cylindrical MicroLens ric and Optical (TEMPO)
prior lamps, but that is white in the off state Energy Star status and Energy light guide implemented test suite on the design
(www.ledsmagazine.com/news/9/12/10). The Star requires an omnidirec- in three segments in an (www.ledsmagazine.com/
new design also eliminates the segmented tional beam distribution. SSL A-lamp design. _________ And Best
news/8/9/32).

34 FEBRUARY 2013 LEDsmagazine.com

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lighting | RETROFIT LAMPS
Buy said it is designed to meet Energy Star
requirements and that certification is under
way. Like most of the Insignia products, the
lamp is being made by an unnamed contract
manufacturer.
Rambus MicroLens
Another new approach to retrofit lamps
comes courtesy of Rambus. The company is
an intellectual property (IP) specialist that
doesnt manufacture products but rather
licenses technology to other manufactur-
ers. Its play in the lighting segment is a light
guide technology called MicroLens that car-
ries rays from the LED sources and includes
small optical elements embedded within the
layers of the guide to deflect some rays and
provide a naturally diff use light.
MicroLens has primarily been used thus
far to develop flat planar lighting. GE Light-
ing is one licensee and recently announced
a pendant luminaire based on the technol-
ogy (www.ledsmagazine.com/news/9/11/17).
Cooper Lighting and Fern-Howard have also
36 FEBRUARY 2013
FIG. 4. Materials
specialist 3M was first
to use a light guide in a
retrofit lamp, mounting
the LEDs in the base.
licensed the technology.
In the case of the A-lamp
that Rambus introduced at
the Consumer Electronics
Show in Las Vegas, Rambus
has manufactured a pilot
run of an end product but
will still look to partners to
ultimately bring the prod-
uct to market. Elite Group
will be the initial source for
a 60W-equivalent A19 lamp
due in the second quarter.
The retrofit lamp uses
three cylindrically shaped
MicroLens segments that essentially form
a cylindrical lamp (Fig. 3). The LEDs are
mounted in a circular fashion around the
base of the lamp shining upwards into the
light guide.
Rambus believes that it has an approach
that will be cheaper to manufacture com-
pared to other LED lamps. Our unique
design has all the benefits of the best LED
technology available and offers a signifi-
cant bill of materials cost savings, said Jef-
fery Parker, president of the Rambus Light-
ing and Display Technology division.
That claim of course depends on the cost
of making the light guide. Moreover, its not
clear that the design could meet Energy Star
requirements that require uniform lumi-
nous intensity over a range of 0 to 135 with
0 being the top of the lamp. The lamp should
deliver an even beam around the circumfer-
ence of the cylinder. But its not clear that it
could generate uniform light upwards and
downwards.
3M LED Advanced Light
The Rambus lamp is the second product
announced in the second half of 2012 to use
light guide technology the first being from
another surprise market entrant 3M (www.____
____________________
ledsmagazine.com/news/9/8/21). The giant
company is a materials specialist, and evi-
dently saw a good chance to use a number
of its materials technologies in a fast-grow-
ing market segment despite the fact that it
hasnt previously sold lighting products.
The approach depicted in Fig. 4 greatly
simplifies the driver design, as the driver is
LEDsmagazine.com

FIG. 5. Osram won the race to deliver a
100W-equivalent lamp in the Sylvania
Ultra LED 20W A21 product.
located in the relatively spacious globe. Most
other SSL retrofit lamps cram the driver into
the base and/or neck of the lamp. The 3M
design allows air to flow into the lamp just
above the base and exit through slots in the
upper half of the globe cooling both the LEDs
and the driver.
The LEDs are mounted facing upwards
around the circumference of the neck of the
lamp shining upwards into the light guide.
A number of 3M materials are used in the
lamp including optically clear adhesives
used on the globe. The design also uses 3Ms
Enhanced Specular Reflector material in the
light engine. And the design uses 3M electri-
cal connectors.
The result is an 800-lm lamp that is being
sold at many Walmart stores for $25. 3M is
offering both 3000K and 5000K versions.
The warm-white version requires ten LEDs
to deliver the specified flux, while the cool-
white version uses nine LEDs.
100W-equivalent race
Perhaps the most exciting news over the
course of 2012 in the retrofit lamp area
was the race to offer the LED equivalent
of a 100W lamp. Government regulatory
guidelines around the globe are forcing
100W incandescent lamps from the mar-
ket. Ironically, such regulatory agencies
targeted 100W lamps first because they use
more energy than lower-wattage lamps. But
those higher-output lamps are also harder
to design with LEDs because of the require-
ment of delivering on the order of 1600 lm
LEDsmagazine.com
lighting | RETROFIT LAMPS
and handling the associated thermal issues
drawing heat away from the LEDs to
ensure reliable operation. The industry has
eagerly sought an LED-based alternative.
Back at Lightfair International last May,
we witnessed dueling 100W-equivalent news
releases from the likes of GE Lighting, Switch
Lighting, Philips Lighting, Lighting Science
_________
Group and Osram Sylvania (www.ledsmag-
______________
azine.com/news/9/5/4). Most pledged to be
first to market, but commercial delivery was
far from certain in 2012.
It turns out that Osram Sylvania won the
___
race by a nose over Philips Lighting (www.
_____________________
ledsmagazine.com/news/9/11/6). In mid
November some Lowes retail stores had
the Sylvania Ultra LED 20W A21 lamps on
shelves. Philips EnduraLED lamps shipped
to Home Depot starting December 1. The
other contenders have yet to ship products.
Sylvania Ultra LED
The Sylvania product (Fig. 5) outputs 1600
lm with efficacy of 80 lm/W. It has a CRI of
80, color temperature of 2700K and is dim-
mable to 10%. The company said that based
on the 25,000-hr rated life, the lamp would
save consumers $220 over its life relative to
an incandescent lamp.
Todays announcement from Osram Syl-
vania shows a commitment to providing
high quality, energy saving products, said
_______________
FIG. 6. GE Lighting will use a SynJet
active cooler in its 100W-equivalent A19
lamp due on the market soon.
FEBRUARY 2013 37
lighting | RETROFIT LAMPS

Phil Rioux, Osram vice president of fit in every application.

lamps and general lighting. We The Philips 100W-equivalent is also an A21 lamp. It
have a deep understanding of the delivers 1780 lm consuming 22W. Sylvania also wins
challenges facing businesses and the efficacy race by a nose.
consumers, such as saving energy GE Lighting, for its part in the race, said all along
and reducing electricity bills with- that it would be sometime in 2013 before it delivered
out sacrificing quality of light. the 1600-lm Energy Smart LED lamp (Fig. 6). But
The Sylvania design, like many other the company has steadfastly promised an A19 size.
SSL retrofit lamps, uses a segmented Ironically, the company will add components to the
architecture that mixes cooling channels design to reach the smaller size.
and the optic globe. It is white in the off GE has invested in Nuventix and licensed the com-
state and could probably pass for a legacy panys SynJet technology that includes active cooling
frosted light bulb. devices that create pulses of air. GE will use a SynJet in
You may note in the product name that the its 1600-lm lamp and that active cooling will allow the
Sylvania lamp is in the A21 form factor as opposed company to minimize the size of the heat sinks used
to the A19 form factor that is most common in res- and hit the A19 form factor.
idential incandescent lamps. A21 lamps can have The architecture comes at a price both in bill of
slightly longer necks than A19 lamps. The slight size dif- materials and efficacy. GE hasnt said what the lamp
ference matters little in many applications because they will cost, but the SynJet cooler will increase the com-
both use the same Edison socket base. But A21 lamps wont ponents costs over passive heat sinks. Moreover, the
1600-lm design will use 27W because the SynJet
FIG. 7. Switch Lighting uses a silicone-based liquid inside the does use a small amount of energy.
globe of its retrofit lamps to cool the LEDs drawing heat to
the surface of the globe. The startup dilemma
Returning to a theme we struck early on, new players in
the retrofit lamp space face the challenge of trying to get to mar-
ket quickly with an innovative design, and capturing share prior
SULFUR FREE COMPOUNDS to saturation. No company is more instructive in the process than
Our Materials Meet: UL 94 5VA, UL Switch Lighting.
94VO and are used in NEMA and IP We featured Switch Lighting on the cover of LEDs Magazine back
Rated applications in June of 2011 after their lamp design debuted in April of 2011. The
design story was very compelling. The company would fi ll the globe
of its lamp with liquid to draw heat away from the LEDs. At The LED
Show last summer, CEO Tracy Bilbrough revealed the liquid to be sil-
icone based (www.illuminationinfocus.com/news/3/8/3).
The company has introduced 40W-, 60W-, 75W-, and 100W-equiv-
alent lamps as well as a novel LED 3-way lamp. Indeed, the company
was the first of the retrofit lamp players to tout a 100W-equivalent
lamp. But only in the fall of 2012 did Switch began to sell lamps com-
mercially. The Switch40 sells for $42.99, the Switch60 sells for $49.99,
and the Switch75 sells for $58.99. The Switch100 is priced at $65.99
but still isnt readily available.
Engineered Sealing Solutions The reason for the delays in shipping are basically unknown to

 anyone outside the company. Surely the design is complex, and the





 pricing supports that fact. Seeing sample lamps over the course of

 
 
20 months, its apparent that the design went through a number of


 
  
changes. The LEDs that are mounted facing outward around the cen-
Certified to: ISO/TS
16949, ISO 9001 with
Design and ISO 14001
For your next project contact our engineers!
problem solvers. solution providers. 855.585.5050 | www.lauren.com/light
ter of the globe were once installed on aluminum fingers. Some type
of printed-circuit board has replaced those fingers.
Fortunately for Switch, the company had an early start in the
retrofit lamp race. They still have an opportunity to make money
assuming the lamps deliver on the promised specs. A startup enter-
ing the market today facing a two year development cycle would
have a tough time recouping the R&D expense with socket satura-
tion looming.

38 FEBRUARY 2013 LEDsmagazine.com

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luminaire design | WAVEGUIDES

MHA Lighting takes unique

approach to LED fixture design with
Rods with Holes technology
A UK-based LED lighting manufacturer is using a unique light-waveguide approach in which LED
light is shone sideways into acrylic rods. In turn, these light-emitting rods provide a uniform light
distribution, explains TIM WHITAKER.

M
HA Lighting has developed a The technology overcomes the problem of Unique approach
unique LED approach that opens directionality, and achieves a light distribu- MH As lig ht-waveg uide technolog y
up the use of solid-state lighting tion of such high uniformity that it is better approach differs from technologies used
(SSL) in new areas and applications which than traditional fittings. Luminaires create by other LED luminaire manufacturers,
competitors are failing to address with the a wide, rugby-ball shape of light to pro- which usually shine light directly out of the
same level of efficiency. Using patented intel- vide exceptional uniformity which for most fi xture or scatter the light through an opti-
lectual property (IP), MHA Lighting is the applications, both internal and external, is cal diff user.
only known LED lighting manufacturer to crucially important. Direct emission: In this approach the
shine light sideways into an encapsulation, The light-waveguide technology used by LEDs are usually arranged in a cluster or
rather than directly outwards. Th is avoids MHA fits in with a growing industry trend of matrix to shine their light directly out of
direct eye-contact of the light source, and maximizing useful lumens, where light is the fitting. The earliest forms of LED-based
provides a safe and efficient light output. The directed efficiently to specific locations. This is halogen-replacement downlights and flu-
flexibility of its patented technology allows in contrast to traditional light sources, which orescent-tube replacements utilized this
MHA Lighting to replace fluorescent fittings are typically omnidirectional and wasteful. approach with mixed results. The light
and other conventional lighting technolo-
gies, in both indoor and outdoor applica-
tions, while meeting all relevant standards.
MHA uses a light-waveguide technology
in which the LED light is emitted sideways
into acrylic rods. This is achieved using spe-
cially-designed, linear, printed circuit boards
in which the sections containing the LEDs are
bent at 90 from the main sections. The PCBs
can be interlocked so that two LEDs on verti-
cal sections can sit back to back (Fig. 1).
The LED-containing extensions of the
PCBs are then inserted into matching holes
in an acrylic rod (Fig. 2). For obvious rea-
sons, MHA describes its technology as Rods
with Holes. The LEDs emit sideways into the
rod. Emission from the rod is controlled by a
reflective coating which is designed accord-
ing to the desired light distribution. In this
way, light is emitted from the length of the
rod in a uniform manner.

TIM WHITAKER is an Editorial Consultant with

LEDs Magazine.

40 FEBRUARY 2013 LEDsmagazine.com

output was limited and in many cases the
LEDs would overheat, or the individual light
sources were too bright, leaving an uncom-
fortable after-image for the viewer.
LEDs obscured by a diffuser: In this
approach, the LEDs are located behind a dif-
fuser so that the light source is masked from
the observer. In principle this approach pro-
duces the least amount of glare, as the LEDs
are hidden. However, the diff user introduces
losses to the system (reducing the efficiency
by 20-30% or more). It also
inhibits control of the
beam direction, which
tends to be dominated by FIG. 2. In MHAs
the characteristics and Rod with Holes
design of the diff user. technology, LED
The MHA approach to light shines
luminaires differs signif- sideways into acrylic
icantly from either of the rods and is emitted
above methods. The tech- uniformly along the
nology relies on reflecting length of the rod.
the light internally and
using the optical prop-
erties of the acrylic rod before the light is The reflector plays a crucial role in MHAs required degree of directional beam control.
emitted in a uniform manner. technology as it is Lambertian in its reflec- Th is efficiency factor includes all the loss
The LEDs are arranged to shine their tance, meaning it is diff usely reflective like factors associated with the light path from
light sideways within the optic so that a matte object, as opposed to a mirror-like the LED to the task plane. By comparison,
only a small proportion of the light is emit- reflector that exhibits specular reflection. conventional diff user-based systems may
ted directly from the fitting. The remain- The optical waveguide efficiency of MHAs have efficiencies as low as 50-60%, greatly
ing light waves are guided and then subse- Rod with Holes technology is very high and reducing the overall light output from the
quently reflected out. has been evaluated extensively at the UK fitting. Light diff users also tend to inhibit
Th is approach optimizes the National Physical Laboratory in Tedding- any kind of directional beam control, and
utilization of light from the ton, London. Optical efficiency was found this may be an important consideration for
LED source and also allows for to be in a range of 75-85% depending on effective overall light deployment.
an exceptionally good degree of the specific system confi guration and the The design flexibility inherent in this tech-
beam control and uniformity
of light. Th is minimizes light
wastage and light pollution.

FIG. 1. LEDs are mounted

on PCBs on sections that
are bent at 90 to the main
board. Pairs of LEDs are
inserted into matching holes
in acrylic rods.

 FIG. 3. MHA Lightings

TiLite luminaires, with 80 CRI
and 4000K color temperature,
replaced T5 fluorescent
fittings in Scott Safetys UK
factory (www.ledsmagazine.
com/press/37007).

LEDsmagazine.com FEBRUARY 2013 41

LED manufacturing | LARGE SUBSTRATES
FIG. 4. LED light fittings consuming 67W from MHA Lighting have replaced 170W SON
fittings at Bournemouth Airport in the UK (www.ledsmagazine.com/products/37283).
nology facilitates secondary benefits when
used in specific tasks. For example, in street
lighting, it is possible to use lower mount-
ing heights, to reduce light pollution, reduce
glare and focus light on the task area.
The technology offers a high degree of
light uniformity of which the beam angle
can be adjusted by a simple modification of
the reflector. Th is has the additional bene-
fit in internal applications, where it is pos-
sible to direct light away from windows
and concentrate it in required areas or in
42 FEBRUARY 2013
external applications, such as garage fore-
courts, where light can be reflected inwards
to avoid light pollution.
Visual appearance
In tandem with the beam-control character-
istics, the Rod with Holes approach creates a
luminaire where light output is perceived as
emanating from a light strip or bar, rather
than from each individual LED. When indi-
vidual LEDs can be seen directly, very power-
ful after-images can be produced along with
___________
eye discomfort and glare. The MHA approach
yields optimum lighting in an aesthetically-
pleasing manner, with fittings that are just as
pleasant to look at as a fluorescent.
The high optical efficiency of the MHA
waveguide system results in comparatively
high luminous efficacies (i.e. luminaire
lumen output per circuit watt), and thereby
a very good energy-saving performance
overall. Th is is true even against very effi-
cient fluorescent lighting systems, such as
T5s. In addition to the energy savings there
is an accompanying saving in maintenance
costs as there is no need for maintenance for
a lighting system that is predicted to last as
long as 10-15 years.
The Rod with Holes technology encour-
ages a luminaire design in which thermal
management can be achieved via a simple
passive heat-sinking method. The surface
area of the aluminum fitting acts as the
heat-sink, and there is no need for active
thermal control or an excessively heavy
fi nned heat-sink, for example.
The MHA approach is unique in this
respect and can facilitate distinctive
designs with aesthetic appeal. Essen-
tially, MHA has a light engine that can be
adapted to suit any footprint, depending on
the application. The company rarely has to
carry out any new product development, as
the product range essentially uses variants
of the same light engine.
LEDsmagazine.com
 EASY. FAST. COMPACT. (All this, and brains too.)
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standards | LED DATASHEETS

ANSI works to standardize LED

datasheet for white LEDs
JIANZHONG JIAOreports that the ANSI standards body hopes to facilitate the communications of
pertinent component characteristics between LED manufacturers and SSL product developers.

T
he American National Standard LED datasheet standard seeks to standard- standards for testing LEDs will be largely
Institute (ANSI) is currently devel- ize the information being communicated helpful for LED manufacturers in consis-
oping a standard datasheet for white between LED manufacturers and the rest tently obtaining the LED characteristics to
LEDs used for general illumination, that can of the industry to ensure that fair and con- be listed in the datasheets.
in turn help the solid-state lighting (SSL) sistent comparisons can be made by LED Based on a broad view of datasheets cur-
industry overcome obstacles to broader users. In developing the ANSI LED data- rently published by major LED manufac-
deployment. Datasheets are an important for- sheet standard, the ANSI Working Group turers and a general consensus from LED
mat for LED manufacturers to present prod- proposed: The purpose is industry experts, the con-
uct information and characteristics to users. to specify the standardized tents of the proposed ANSI
Over the years, more and more LED man- white LED package data- LED standard datasheet
ufacturers have entered the general light- sheet, or data reporting for- are defined and grouped
ing market, and in almost all cases they use mat, as the means of com- into three areas: perfor-
datasheets to communicate with users and munication between LED mance and operational
assist them in selecting and implementing package producers and characteristics; physical
LEDs in lamps, light engines or luminaires. users. The defi ned contents and electrical connection
In the past, the information LEDs manufac- and format of the datasheet characteristics; and usage
turers have provided in these datasheets has shall be followed. recommendations. The stan-
not been consistent, and as such, users have There are some who dard also recommends that
expressed concern over lack of fair compari- argue the necessity of such the performance charac-
sons when selecting LEDs. standardization. One con- teristics be obtained by the
In the general lighting industry, most of cern is that a standard- established (or to be estab-
the components used in lighting products ized datasheet may bury some liabilities lished) industry standards. For example, the
have been standardized by ANSI such as for the claims made by LED manufactur- photometric and colorimetric characteris-
bulb shape, base, etc. Moreover ANSI has ers. Another concern is whether there are tics should be measured by IES LM-85 (to be
defi ned all major characteristics, such as sufficient standards to be referenced when published); thermal characteristics should
voltage, wattage, etc. obtaining or measuring the characteris- be measured by JEDS51-51; and lumen and
LEDs for lighting applications, on the tics and properties listed in the datasheet. color maintenance should be measured by
other hand, are still rapidly evolving. At After extensive discussions, however, the IES LM-80. The standard datasheet will also
least for now, ANSI has decided not to stan- experts from participating LED manufac- list optional characteristics that LED manu-
dardize LED package shape, footprint or turers principally agreed that an ANSI stan- facturers may want to, but do not necessar-
other physical parameters, which might dard datasheet can be a practical approach ily need to disclose.
restrict further technology and product which will benefit the SSL industry. In addi- In the performance characteristics area,
development. Instead, the proposed ANSI tion, the establishment of some critical the standard datasheet fi rst addresses pho-
tometric performance. LED manufactur-
DR. JIANZHONG JIAO, Director of Regulations and Emerging Technologies at OSRAM Opto ers are required to provide information for
Semiconductors, Inc., is an internationally recognized lighting expert. He has been actively correlated color temperature (CCT) ver-
involved in LED and SSL standard development activities. He serves as the past Chairman of the sus luminous flux, color binning, lumi-
SAE Lighting Committee, past Chairman of NGLIA, past Chairman of the NEMA SSL Technical nous intensity distribution, luminous flux
Committee, active member of IESNA Testing Procedure Committee, Roadway Lighting Committee, changes versus forward current and ver-
and Computer Committee, ANSI SSL Working Groups, Standard Technical Panel of UL8750, sus temperature, color changes versus for-
standard committees in IEEE, CIE USA, SEMI, JEDEC and other organizations. He can be reached ward current or versus temperature, and
at jianzhong.jiao@osram-os.com luminous efficacy versus forward current

LEDsmagazine.com FEBRUARY 2013 45

standards | LED DATASHEET
(as optional).
Some information is to be presented in a
table format, and other in a graphic format.
For example, for each listed CCT, whether
it is within, or in addition to ANSI C78.377
specifications, LEDs luminous flux, CRI
values and corresponding product codes
are listed in a table format. Another exam-
ple is that the LED spectral power distribu-
tion (SPD) is provided in a graphic format.
Even though SPD may not be directly used
to design LED lamps or luminaires, it has
been widely acknowledged that LED users,
including lighting designers, fi nd value in
reviewing SPD information. The luminous
intensity in angular or spatial distribution
is also presented in the graphic format.
It is widely expected that LED lumen and
color maintenance information is needed
for designing SSL products. However, this
information can take over eight months of
LM-80 testing to become available. As such,
when new LEDs are launched for production
and the corresponding datasheets are pub-
lished, lumen maintenance test data is typ-
ically not yet available. Thus, the ANSI stan-
dard does not require lumen maintenance
information to be provided on the data-
sheet. LED manufacturers have the option
of providing this information if the previous
LM-80 data and TM-21 projection for lumen
maintenance of a similar LED product may
be used as a reference.
___________________________________
______________________
46 FEBRUARY 2013
Because LEDs are temperature depen-
dent devices, thermal degrading is a criti-
cal design element. As such, all temperature
related characteristic changes will be listed
in the datasheet, often in a graphic format.
For the operational characteristics, the
datasheet will list operating limits, ther-
mal and electrical characteristics, forward
voltage versus forward current, forward
voltage binning, forward current versus
temperature, and forward voltage versus
temperature.
Next, the datasheet covers the physical
and electrical connection characteristics
including mechanical characteristics and
electrical diagram. It is required that the
LEDs physical properties, such as dimen-
sions, tolerances, locations of optical center,
anode and cathode, thermal pad, and elec-
trical connections, be shown in a graphic
format, so users can visualize the LEDs
physical appearance. The electrical diagram
that indicates external electrical connec-
tion points is also required and a diagram
of the internal diode is recommended. This
information helps users properly connect
LEDs to the overall electronic systems used
in LED lamps, light engines or luminaires.
The datasheet also describes the usage
recommendation. As the LED assembly
process can have an impact on overall per-
formance, a soldering temperature profi le
must be provided with the acceptable tem-
perature variation versus time for the LED
during the soldering process. Exceeding the
allowed temperature during soldering can
induce short term damage or a long term
impact on LED lumen maintenance.
LED packing information is also needed
for users to purchase LEDs. Th is informa-
tion may include mechanical diagrams
that show dimensions, number of LEDs
per package and packing format if LEDs
are packed as tape and reel, tray, tube, or
another format. Optionally, the standard
also recommends LED manufacturers pro-
vide information for how the LEDs should
be handled, including equipment, ESD, etc.,
as well as what the environmental condi-
tions should be for storage.
The intent of the ANSI LED standard
datasheet is to ensure LED manufactur-
ers provide accurate, consistent and reli-
able product information, including the
order or sequence of that information. It is
not ANSIs desire to put additional burdens
on LED manufacturers when establishing
standard datasheets and the ANSI Work-
ing Group is diligently working to achieve
the balance between benefits and burdens
of such standardization. All parties involved
hope that consistent communication the
ANSI LED standard datasheet between
LED manufacturers and users will be a valu-
able tool to further assist the growth of the
SSL industry.
LEDsmagazine.com
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2013
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focus on SSL modules
A modular approach to LED-based luminaire design offers a number of benefits to product manufacturers
including fast time to market, lower upfront engineering costs, and the ability to off er luminaires that can
be serviced or upgraded in the field. Modular solid-state lighting (SSL) components enable custom luminaire
design based on combinations of off-the-shelf LED light engines, module holders/brackets, drivers, optics, and
other elements. The downside of modules can be less flexibility in absolutely matching a luminaire design to
an application and slightly higher bill-of-materials cost relative to full custom designs. Still, modules off er
benefits that will clearly make the technology a lasting part of the ongoing transition of the lighting market
to SSL technology. The benefits of modular luminaire design (www.ledsmagazine.com/features/8/11/11) apply
in the product development process whether the components at hand are proprietary designs or based on an
evolving industry standard such as one of the Zhaga Books (www.ledsmagazine.com/features/9/7/15). This
compilation includes both proprietary modular products and ones built to the new Zhaga standards that allow
for interoperability of light engines, drivers, optics, and other components from multiple vendors.

Fortimo LED TDLM family by Philips
The Fortimo LED Twistable downlight module (TDLM)
is a simple to install and easy to maintain modular LED
light. Th is module is available in two color temperatures,
3000K and 4000K, includes a choice of
two holders, and has a CRI of
80.The family also includes
a number of different
lumen-output options,
such as a 1100-lm prod-
uct thats compliant with
Zhaga Book 2: Socketable
downlight engine. The
term socketable, or twist-
able in the Philips prod-
uct name, implies that you can
mount the light engine into a bracket
without the use of tools. Philips also offers a 2000-lm ver-
sion that at present isnt Zhaga compliant.
LMH2 LED modules by Cree
The proprietary Cree LMH2 LED module family delivers 95
lm/W, has a CRI of 90, and comes in color temperatures
of 2700K, 3000K, 3500K, and 4000K. The module comes in
either a flat lens or dome lens. Since the light source and
power supply are separate, the LMH2 can be mounted and
wired in a variety of different configurations. Cree recently
established a Driver Compatibility Program that established
approved drivers for CREE SSL modules and the LMH2 mod-
ule family is initially the basis for the program (p. 21).
PrevaLED Core family by Osram
The PrevaLED Core family of light engines are compliant
with Zhaga Book 3: Round light emitting surface 9mm
23mm that is targeted at spot
light applications and
requires separate con-
trol gear. PrevaLED
modules offer a CRI of
93. The modules fea-
ture chip-on-board
(COB) technology to
deliver uniform light
emission across the
surface. The family fea-
tures a number of products
with a variety of wattages from
10W to 31W, and color temperatures
that include 2700K, 3000K, 3500K, and 4000K. The highest
efficacy in the family is 108 lm/W.

LED P3LED Recessed Series by Cooper

The Iris P3LED LED Recessed Series by Cooper is a Zhaga
book 3 compliant series of luminaires that feature inter-
changeable optics -- the first luminaire that was certified to

LEDsmagazine.com FEBRUARY 2013 49

 color quality. The spot-light series features LED lighting with a
color temperature range of 2700K, 3000K, 3500K, and 4000K, and a
CRI of 80. The efficacy for each module is above 67 lm/W, with the
highest being 96 lm/W.

TECOH CFx by Megaman

a Zhaga Book. Because Zha ga speci f ications The TECOH CFx twist-lock LED modules are designed in compliance
include thermal, electri- cal, mechanical, and optical with the Zhaga Book 2 specification. These modules use a multi-
interfaces, luminaires must meet the specifications just
as light engines must. The series features a minimum CRI of 80, a
color temperature of 3000K, and are designed to last 50,000 hours.
The series includes a variety of recessed luminaires, including
downlights, accents, wall wash and lens products.

Infusion LED modules by GE Lighting

GE Lightings Infusion LED modules offer a large range of lumen
packages, which range from 850 lm to 4,500 lm. The modules are

chip white LED array and feature a lambertian output. Because of

the twist-lock design, the light engines enable luminaires that can
be retained and upgraded as opposed to being replaced in the field.
The modules feature a CRI of 80, and come in color temperatures
of 2800K or 4000K.

7100/d1/d2-GR light engine

designed for compatibility with Zhaga Book 5: Socketable engine
with separate gear, although the modules arent yet on Zhagas list
of certified products. The series includes six modules, and uses a
twist-fit installation/replacement method, allowing the entire mod-
ule to be removed in seconds. The series includes color temperature
options of 2700K, 3000K, and 4000K, with a CRI of 90.
holders by A.A.G. Stucchi
These Zhaga Book 2 compliant holders by A.A.G. Stucchi are
designed to hold a Book 2-compliant modular light engine a sock-
etable LED light engine with integrated electronic control gear.
The holder enables light engines to be installed and swapped out
if needed.

XSM 80 series LED

modules by Xiacto
The proprietary XSM 80 series
of LED modules by Xiacto
rely on remote- or cold-phos-
phor technology to provide
white light. The round mod-
ules combine blue LEDs with
secondary optics coated in
phosphor and Xicato says that
technology delivers superior

50 FEBRUARY 2013 LEDsmagazine.com

 focus on | SSL MODULES

Z020C2 by Lustrous PHJ65d-1/d-2 light engine

The Z020C2 is a Zhaga Book 3 compliant spotlight module designed
for commercial lighting. These modules have a CRI of 90, and are
meant to showcase products on the retail floor. The company was
the fi rst in the Asian region to win Zhaga certification based on
testing by UL.
holders by BJB GmbH
The Zhaga Book 2-compliant holders work with LED light engines
with 100-VAC through 120-VAC power requirements. This holder
features a closed form to reduce the penetration of dust and dirt
into the luminaire.

Reflex Easy by iGuzzini

The Reflex Easy family of LED luminaires are modular recessed fi x-
tures that are designed to serve several different applications. The

_____________
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Strategies Unlimited
MARKET INTELLIGENCE 

Reflex Easy family, which is Zhaga Book 2 compliant, includes a wall
washer luminaire, a circular spotlight, and a square design. The lumi-
naires come with a variety of wattages for applications as well, from
14W to 44W.

Helieon by Molex
Description: The proprietary Helieon family of LED modules from
Molex (developed in partnership with Bridgelux) features a wide vari-
Light up your creative vision
with Makrolon Lumen XT
Expand your LED fixture design freedom with Makrolon Lumen XT
diffuser sheet. Developed for LED fixture lenses, this new poly-
carbonate technology delivers different levels of light diffusion
and high light transmission in a range of grades. The result:
versatility to achieve your vision for LED fixture design and
performance.

Makrolon Lumen XT benefits

ety of products, with varying beam angles, base types, lumen outputs, Leading edge technology for uniform LED diffusion
CRIs that are all 80 or above, and color temperatures of 2700K, 3000K,
Versatile range of diffusion and light transmission levels
3500K, and 4100K. The versatile family is designed to serve across a
Higher impact strength than glass or acrylic
wide variety of applications.
for damage prone areas
High temperature resistance allows more design flexibility
LMR2 LED modules by Cree UL listed flammability rating
The proprietary Cree LMR2 LED
module family features a CRI of
90, color temperatures of 2700K,
3000K, 3500K, and 4000K, and For more information:
comes with integrated driver 800.457.3553 or www.sheffieldplastics.com
electronics, optics, and core
thermals. The modules also Bayer MaterialScience LLC
include an optional heat sink 119 Salisbury Road
and support dimming down to Sheffield, MA 01257
5%. The modules are designed for

LEDsmagazine.com
focus on | SSL MODULES

applications in non-directional lighting, directional lighting, down-

lighting, or exterior area lighting.

SynJet ZFlow 87 Spot LED Cooler by Nuventix

Zhaga Books defi ne a thermal interface to a light engine as well
as electrical, optical, and mechanical interfaces, and Nuventix has
designed a number of its SynJet-based, active-cooling devices for
Zhaga-based luminaire designs. The ZFlow 87 Spotlight LED cooler
is 87-mm in diameter and designed for use with Book 3 light engines. lm and range in color temperature from 3000K to 4000K. The main-
stream products have a CRI of 80, although the specialty Artist
series comes with a CRI of 90.

S-Class street lighting module by Carclo

Modular light engines comes in many form factors
driven in part by application and this
new S-Class module from Carclo is
designed specifically for street-
lighting applications.
Carclo is an optics
specialists and
this is the compa-
ny's first complete
The 47W thermal-load version is pictured. Moreover the ZFlow 75 light-engine offering.
34W version is used in the Cooper Lighting P3LED luminaire. The S-Class is a pro-
prietary design but still
includes the thermal, opti-
FORTIMO LED SLM 3000 family by Philips cal, and electronic elements that
The Fortimo LED Spotlight Module (SLM) 3000 family is designed can accelerate the luminaire devel-
to illuminate merchandise and attract customers in a retail envi- opment cycle. Carclo views the entry
ronment. The family features lamps and drivers with a high CRI into the light-engine business in part as a way to provide custom-
ers easier access to its optics.

SynJet ZFlow 65 Cooler and

CoolTwist Heatsink by Nuventix
The SynJet ZFlow 65 Cooler and
CoolTwist Heatsink is designed
for Book 2 applications and
light engines such as the
Philips Lighting Fortimo
TDLM module target-
ing downlights. Nuventix
and tight color consistency. The products include COB LED tech- offers the product in a range
nology, which helps the system off er performance of more than of sizes with the capability of
100 lm/W. The family is compliant with Zhaga Book 3 for spot- handling thermal loads as high as 48W. The 40W unit pictured is
light applications. 95-mm in diameter and generates less than 28 dBA in acoustic noise.

XLM 80 Series LED modules by Xiacto EdiLex Spot Light Module by Edison-Opto
The XLM 80 series of linear rectangular modules by Xiacto target With the EdiLex Spot Light Module (SLM) Edison-Opto turned
linear lighting applications. Like the XSM 80 series, the products use to a COB LED array that it says provides a uniform plane of light
remote-phosphor technology. Family members deliver 3000-4000 across the light emitting surface. The design uses the companys

54 FEBRUARY 2013 LEDsmagazine.com

 focus on | SSL MODULES

E
EdiPower II components that come
iin versions ranging from 8-25W. That
enables
e Edison-Opto to offer light
engines
e that output 800, 2000, and 3000
lm.
lm The company says that the product
supports
sup spot- and flood-light applica-
tions via reflectors that if offers in 25, 35,
and 60 beam widths.
Linear TALEXXengine Stark LLE by Tridonic
Tridonic offers light engines in a variety of form factors including
the TALEXXengine Stark Linear Light Engine (LLE) family that
comes in rectangular and even square configurations (the QLE).
The modules offer efficacy as high as 118 lm/W 108 lm/W includ-
ing a Tridonic driver. The newest linear module measures 24 mm
(0.95 in) by 280 mm (11 in) for applications such as ceiling troffers.
Tridonic offers the products in 3000K, 4000K, and 5000K CCTs.
Cetero SLM by Bridgelux
Bridgelux took advantage of its ES
series of LED arrays to design
the Cetero Spot Light Module
(SLM) that is compatible with
Zhaga Book 3. The company
is offering the light engine
in 800-, 1100-, and 2000-
lm packages. The mod-
ule comes in a choice of
2700K, 3000K, 3500K, and
4000K color temperatures
and a CRI of 80. Moreover,
Bridgelux specifies color
consistency within a 3-step
MacAdam ellipse.

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 19-21 November 2013 M.O.C. Event Centre, Munich, Germany www.sileurope.com
DEVELOPING THE
NEW ECOSYSTEM
OF LIGHTING
For any questions regarding the call
for papers please contact:
CONFERENCE MANAGEMENT
Emily Pryor
International Conference Manager
T: +44 (0) 1992 656 614
E: emilyp@pennwell.com
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CALL FOR PAPERS!
DEADLINE: 22 FEBRUARY 2013
The Advisory Board for Strategies in Light Europe is now
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you to submit an abstract and share your knowledge,
experience and solutions with industry colleagues from
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Strategies in Light Europe is in its 4th year of providing
Europes most comprehensive conference and exhibition
for the rapidly-growing LED lighting industry. The event
offers a platform for the best networking opportunities and
a forum for the sharing of ideas and experiences in the
latest technologies and market developments.
The 2013 program will include: Keynote and Plenary
Sessions, Market Track, Technology Track, workshops,
and the Investor Forum.
Visit www.sileurope.com for more information on
subject areas and how you can submit your abstract.
Supported by: Events:

technology | COLOR SCIENCE

Understand color science to maximize

success with LEDs part 4
Color rendering, or how color appears when illuminated by a light source, is crucial in the
performance of SSL systems, explains GEORGE KELLY, and in the fourth part of our series on color
science we will cover how LED and SSL architecture impacts lit objects.

M
uch of the technical focus on LEDs ticular type of white light sources known as We are aware of the change in colors of
and solid-state lighting (SSL) to blackbody radiators. In the third article in objects outdoors from noon to sunset on a
date has been on component and the series we built upon this knowledge to sunny day. You may have even had the expe-
system efficacy and the potential for saving show how to design LED-based illumina- rience of choosing a paint color at the store
energy, but lighting quality matters as well. tion devices which mix the light from differ- under natural or fluorescent lighting and
In this part of our color-science series, we ent color temperature white LEDs and from then being disappointed in the color of that
will see how high efficacy and paint as it appears on your
good color rendering are con- walls at home under incan-
flicting goals. Moreover, we descent lighting. Both of
will address how the industry these examples of color ren-
is attacking the problem of dering are within our com-
developing efficient and high- mon experience, are to be
quality light sources. expected, and in part can be
In the first article of this explained by different CCTs of
series we established three the light sources.
foundational principles of What is less apparent,
color vision: 1) The relative though, is that the color of
response of the three types an illuminated object can
of cone cells in the retina is change significantly when
sufficient to explain color shifting from one illumina-
vision; 2) metamerism which tion source to another, even
is a direct result of the first when both sources have the
principle; and 3) color can be exact same CCT and even
characterized by numerous when they have the exact
sets of color-matching func- same chromaticity coordi-
tions, all of which are linear FIG. 1. The SPD of the light emitted by the bulb is modified by the nates. To understand how
transformations of each other spectral reflectance of the pigment of the light blue balloon forming this can happen, lets review
(w w w.ledsmagazine.com/ a new SPD that enters the eye. and apply our fi rst two prin-
_________
features/9/5/4). ciples of color vision.
In the second article we used these prin- colored LEDs to achieve results not possi- Our fi rst principle of color vision states
ciples to explain the origins and uses of ble with white LEDs of the same color tem- that the colors we see are directly related
the CIE Color Diagram including predict- perature alone (www.ledsmagazine.com/ to the relative response of the three types
__________
ing the color coordinates in the CIE Color features/9/10/15). of cone cells in the retina to the spectral
______
Diagram for mixtures of colors (www.leds- In this article we will look at color ren- power distribution (SPD) of the light falling
__________________
magazine.com/features/9/7/14). We also dis- dering properties of white LEDs. Color ren- on the cone cells. Th is means that two light
cussed the origins of the Planckian locus, a dering refers to how the color appearance of sources with widely divergent SPDs can
curve through the center of the CIE Diagram illuminated objects can change when illu- nonetheless still result in the same relative
which plots the color coordinates of a par- minated by different light sources. Natu- response of the three types of cone cells and
rally we expect colors to shift somewhat hence look like the exact same color. Th is is
GEORGE KELLY is an LED Technical Specialist when illuminated by light sources with dif- also why a mixture of the light from a red,
at Avnet Electronics Marketing. ferent correlated color temperatures (CCT). a green and a blue LED can have the same

LEDsmagazine.com FEBRUARY 2013 57

technology | COLOR SCIENCE

color as a 3000K incandescent lamp, even tance for indoor LED lighting. The SPD of a The importance of CRI in SSL
though the SPDs of the lamp and the LED typical white LED is very different from that CRI is primarily important for indoor light-
mixture are vastly different. As long as the of typical indoor lights whether incandes- ing and is less important for outdoor light-
cone responses to the two SPDs are identi- cent or fluorescent (Fig. 2). Consumers may ing. High-pressure sodium (HPS) street
cal, then the two sources will look identical be disappointed to fi nd that the colors of lights for instance, have a very low CRI, in
in color. Th is phenomenon is called metam- familiar objects in their home or office will some cases as low as 20. This poor color ren-
erism, and is our second principle of color change significantly when they install new dering is off set by exceptional luminous
vision. Any two or more SPDs that have the LED light bulbs. efficacy, which can be as high as 150 lm/W.
same chromaticity coordinates are metam- The lighting industry has faced this prob- Color rendering in this application is gen-
ers of each other. lem in the past and devel-
oped the color render- 0.9
Reflected light ing index (CRI) metric to TCS01
0.8
The situation changes when we view quantify the color render- TSC02
0.7
reflected light from two or more metameric ing properties of a partic- TCS03
0.6
light sources. In this case, the spectral con- ular light source compared TCS04
0.5
tent of the light coming from each source is to that of an incandescent TCS05
0.4
modified by the spectral reflectance prop- source for low color tem- TCS06
0.3
erties of the object the light is reflecting off peratures (< 5000K) and to TCS07
0.2
of before it enters our eyes. A blue object for daylight for high color tem- TCS08
0.1
instance reflects at the blue end of the spec- peratures (> 5000K). If the TCS09
0
trum, roughly 400-500 nm, and absorbs the match is perfect, meaning 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750
medium to long wavelengths. Consequently, that colors appear or ren- Wavelength (nm)

the SPD of the reflected light now is a func- der the same under the FIG. 3. The spectral reflectance of the eight color
tion of both the SPD of the source and the light source in question as swatches used in the calculation of CRI plus the strong
spectral reflectance properties of the illu- they do under daylight or red used to calculate R9.
minated object (Fig. 1). an incandescent source,
This complex interaction means that then the index will be an
the color of an object can shift dramati- even 100. CRI is not perfect as a predictor of erally considered unimportant when com-
cally when illuminated in succession by the color rendering performance of a light pared to energy efficiency. Some HPS lamps
two metameric light sources. Even though source, but it does do a reasonable job. do have slightly higher CRIs, but at the sac-
the two light sources have the exact same CRI is calculated by comparing the chro- rifice of lower luminous efficacy.
chromaticity coordinates, if their SPDs maticity coordinates of a set of standard The only outdoor lighting application
differ then the SPDs of the reflected light patches or color swatches when illuminated where high CRI is important is architectural
will also differ. Moreover, the SPDs of by the light source you are testing and by a lighting, such as wall washers and floodlights
reference light source. These used to illuminate faades and landscapes. A
1.0
standard patches have spe- low CRI in an architectural application can
0.9
cific spectral ref lectance significantly detract from the aesthetics of an
0.8 Incandescent
distributions, meaning the illuminated building or landscape.
0.7
0.6
percent reflectance at each In indoor lighting, CRI is particularly
0.5
LED wavelength for each patch important in residential, retail, and restau-
0.4 is specifi ed. Specifying the rant lighting. Color rendering in office envi-
0.3 Fluorescent chromaticity coordinates ronments is of less importance, because
0.2 of the patch is meaning- office lighting is designed to provide the best
0.1 less without specifying a lighting for performing tasks and less so for
0 light source illuminating aesthetics.
400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750
Wavelength (nm) the patch or more precisely LED-based retrofit lamps and to a lesser
specifying the sources SPD. extent SSL fi xtures are starting to make
FIG. 2. SPDs of 3000K fluorescent and Incandescent CRI uses fourteen patches inroads into the residential lighting market.
lights compared with a white LED. in all. Eight are used to For this market penetration to continue, the
derive the actual CRI value cost of the LED lamps and fi xtures must
the reflected light will most likely not be (see sidebar Calculating CRI) and the continue to come down, while the quality
metamers of each other and consequently additional six provide individual measures remains high. The higher cost of LED light-
will appear to shift in color at least slightly for specific colors of interest. The patches ing products compared to CFLs and incan-
if not dramatically. were chosen to be representative of com- descent bulbs can be offset to some degree
Color rendering is of particular impor- mon materials (Fig. 3). by the long lifetime of LEDs and by the con-

58 FEBRUARY 2013 LEDsmagazine.com

 technology | COLOR SCIENCE

tinuing increases in LED energy effi- 1 electrical power in watts. For a typ-
Photopic
ciency. The quality of LED products 0.9 curve ical blue InGaN LED, the efficiency
Phosphor
though involves more than just reli- 0.8 is 30-35%. Despite this high effi-
Blue LED
ability. The quality of the light pro- 0.7 ciency, blue LEDs have very poor
duced by an SSL lamp or fi xture is 0.6 luminous efficacy because the eye
also important, especially to resi- 0.5 is not very sensitive at blue wave-
dential customers. The quality of 0.4 lengths. Indeed eye sensitivity is
light in SSL is essentially the color 0.3 what drives the use of efficacy mea-
0.2
rendering quality of the LEDs them- sured in lumens per watt as the pri-
0.1
selves. Since CRI is our only objec- mary figure of merit rather than
0
tive standard to quantify color ren- 360 410 460 510 560 610 660 710 760 efficiency. The emission spectrum
dering, it becomes an important Wavelength (nm) of the phosphor, however, lines up
product specification along with FIG. 4. SPDs of the blue light and phosphor of a typical well with the eye spectral response
reliability and luminous efficacy. 4500K white LED with a CRI of 80, overlaid on the curve, V() and consequently most
Photopic Curve. of the luminous efficacy of a white
Achieving high CRI with LEDs LED is due to the yellow light emit-
LED manufacturers often face com- 1 ted by the phosphor and very little
peting goals, such as cost and per- 0.9 due to the blue light passing through
formance. Manufacturing high CRI 0.8 Photopic the phosphor (Fig. 4).
LEDs with high luminous efficacy 0.7 curve In fact if we werent concerned
especially for warm color tempera- 0.6 with color rendering or having the
tures is one such challenge. The rea- 0.5 chromaticity coordinates of the LED
son for this has to do with how white 0.4 fall close to the Planckian curve, we
0.3
LEDs actually create white light. could make a super high luminous
0.2
White LEDs are actually blue efficacy LED by using a phosphor
0.1
LEDs coated with a phosphor mate- whose emission spectra matches the
0
rial. The phosphor absorbs a portion 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 V() curve as closely as possible and
of the blue light from the LED with Wavelength (nm) then making the phosphor layer thick
the rest passing through the phos- FIG. 5. SPD of Osram's Brilliant Mix delivering a CCT of enough so that all of the blue light
phor. Some of this light absorbed by 2700K and CRI of 92 overlaid on the Photopic Curve. from the blue LED was absorbed by
the phosphor excites electrons in the phosphor.
the phosphor molecules to a higher 1 While matching the SPD of an
energy level. As these electrons fall 0.9 LED to the V() curve as closely as
back to lower energy states they emit 0.8 Photopic
possible will make a very efficient
photons. The spectrum of the light 0.7 curve and therefore bright light, it will not
emitted by the phosphor is broad- 0.6 make white light. For that, we need
band in nature ranging from 500- 0.5 some light on the blue and red ends
700 nm with a peak typically around 0.4 of the spectrum even if the light at
0.3
550 nm. those wavelengths contribute little
0.2
If the phosphor were to absorb all to brightness perceived by the eye.
0.1
of the blue light it would glow yellow. 0
For cool white LEDs this is rather
Since it doesnt absorb all of the light 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 easy to do, by simply letting enough
Wavelength (nm)
from the blue LED, the transmitted of the blue light from the LED leak
blue light and the yellow light emit- FIG. 6. SPD of a dual-phosphor White LED delivering a through the phosphor.
ted by the phosphor combine to cre- CCT of 2700K and CRI of 94 overlaid on the Photopic For warm white LEDs, the phos-
ate what appears to be white light. Curve. phor must have enough power at the
If the mixture has more blue light red end of the spectrum to create the
than white, it will be a cool white warm white CCT. For a 2700K LED,
with a high CCT. If the mixture has more yel- architecture is rather efficient for two rea- phosphors with a broad emission spectrum
low light from the phosphor than blue light sons. First, blue InGaN LEDs are very effi- are chosen that have a peak emission in the
from the LED, it will be warm white with a cient at turning the electrical power sup- 590-630-nm range. Unfortunately these
lower CCT. plied to them into optical power. The phosphors also generate a great deal of light
luminous efficiency of an LED is defined as beyond 650 nm where the eye has very lit-
Efficiency and efficacy the optical power in radiant watts of the tle response, contributing little to the lumi-
The optical performance of this LED light exiting the LED divided by the input nous efficacy of the LED. Th is is why LEDs

LEDsmagazine.com FEBRUARY 2013 59

technology | COLOR SCIENCE
with a lower CCT also have a lower luminous efficacy than the cooler
color temperature LEDs in the same family.
High CRI, warm CCT
The situation is worse when we want to have a high CRI, low color tem-
perature LED a combination desirable in residential applications. In
this case we need even more long wavelength light (600700 nm) rela-
tive to medium and short wavelengths. To accomplish this, the peak of
the phosphor has to shift farther towards the red end of the spectrum,
further lowering the luminous efficacy of the LED.
SSL manufacturers have offered two solutions to this problem. One
solution is to add a red LED to a white LED to boost the red content
of the spectrum without compromising the efficacy of the white LED.
Brilliant Mix by Osram is one example of this. Brilliant Mix actually
improves the total system efficacy by using a greenish-white LED with
a phosphor that matches the V() curve closely, consequently maximiz-
ing luminous efficacy (Fig. 5).
The second approach uses a two phosphor system. The main phos-
phor is shifted towards the blue end of the spectrum and then a second
phosphor with a narrower bandwidth and a peak around 610-620 nm is
added to boost the red end of the spectrum. Th is second phosphor adds
the required power at the red end of the spectrum without wasting too
much power at wavelengths above 650 nm (Fig. 6).
The first approach can produce CRIs above 90 for 2700-3000K LEDs and
still maintain high luminous efficacy. The second approach can achieve CRIs
above 95, but with lower luminous efficacy than lower CRI white LEDs.
Beyond CRI
CRI as a color rendering metric has several known deficiencies. The
most obvious is that it uses only eight spectral reflectance distributions
(swatches) to represent the infi nite number of possible spectral reflec-
tance distributions of real objects that can be encountered in real appli-
cations. Several replacements for CRI have been proposed such as the
__________
color quality scale (CQS) by Davis and Ohno at NIST (www.ledsmaga-
______________
zine.com/news/7/5/29). Until CQS or another metric becomes the new
color rendering standard, we are left with CRI.
The six additional swatches included in the CRI standard can be used
to some degree to make up for the small number of spectral reflectance
distributions used in the standard. The R9 value which is a saturated red
is often of interest for white LEDs since white LEDs often do not render
deep reds well due to a shortage of light at long wavelengths. Compar-
ing the R9 values of two LEDs in addition to comparing their CRI values
can be instructive, especially for applications where the color render-
ing of red is important.
There are also applications where a CRI approaching 100 may not be
desirable. Th is may even be the case in residential, retail and restaurant
lighting where high CRI is assumed to be essential.
For instance, in some situations you may want LED lighting that
increases the saturation of colors. CRI does not discriminate between
color rendering shifts that make colors appear more desaturated or more
saturated. All color differences between the test and reference sources
are treated equally. It is well known that in digital photography we prefer
photos with more saturated colors. It is rather standard practice today
to increase the color saturation of digital photos using image process-
ing software.
60 FEBRUARY 2013
Calculating CRI
The CRI of a light source is calculated by comparing
the chromaticity coordinates of eight standard patches
or color swatches when illuminated by the light source
in question (the test source) and by a reference light
source. The test patches are not actually illuminated
by either the test or the reference source. Instead the
chromaticity coordinates of the light that would be
reflected off of each patch by each sources is calculated
by multiplying the SPDs of each source by the spectral
reflectance distributions of each patch. The spectral
reflectance distributions of the eight patches were
chosen to be representative of common materials. The
metric used to quantify the color differences under the
test and reference light sources is the Euclidean distance
in the CIE 1964 color space,CIEUVW , with chromaticity
coordinates, U, V, and W. An additional six patches
are also tested individually and reported separately,
providing supplemental color rendering information for
those colors.
The steps in calculating the CRI of a source from its
SPD are as follows:
Determine the CCT of the test source.
Generate the SPD of the reference source.
If the CCT of the test source is less than 5000K then
use the SPD of a blackbody radiator with the same
CCT as the test source.
If the CCT of the test source is greater than 5000K,
use the SPD standard illuminant D with the same
CCT as the test source.
Calculate the SPD of the reflected light for each
of the eight spectral reflectance distributions of
the color swatches for both the test and reference
sources. This is done by multiplying the SPD of each
source by the spectral reflectance of each swatch on
a wavelength by wavelength basis.
Find the x, y chromaticity coordinates of the reflected
light and then convert to U, V, and W chromaticity
coordinates of the CIE 1964 color standard.
Apply a von Kriess transform to the U, V, and W
values to account for chromatic adaptation by the
human visual system.
Calculate the = CIEUVW color differences
between the test and reference sources for each
color patch.
Calculate the specific color rendering index for each
patch by, R = 100 - 4.6
Average the eight Ri values to arrive at Ra, which is
the CRI value for the test source.
LEDsmagazine.com
 technology | COLOR SCIENCE

Increasing color saturation 1 Similarly, it may be possible to alter

Photopic
Th is fact suggests that we may pre- 0.9 curve the SPD of LED lights in such a way
fer lighting that increases color sat- 0.8 to enhance the appearance of specific
uration. By enhancing the amount 0.7 items such as food in restaurants and
of light at key wavelengths in the 0.6 in grocery stores. LED technology
0.5
sources SPDs, we could increase the gives us the tools for the first time to
0.4
color saturation or chroma of spe- tailor the SPD of light sources at least
0.3
cific colors and in the process reduce to some degree. How this flexibility is
0.2
the CRI. With LEDs, this is easy to used in new applications over the next
0.1
imagine. If we wanted to enhance 0
few years will be exciting to watch.
the primary colors we could mix in 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 The tradeoff between CRI and
Wavelength (nm) luminous efficacy is currently a major
additional red, green and blue light
from red, green and blue LEDs along FIG. 7. Adding a red LED (640 nm), a green LED (525 focus in the industry. As LED lumi-
with a typical white LED (Fig. 7). nm) and a blue LED (460 nm) to the white LED shown nous efficacies continue to improve,
In the example in Fig. 7, red, green in Fig. 6 results in a 5500K light with a CRI of 81. Reds LEDs will enjoy an even greater com-
and blue LEDs are added to the and greens and purples will appear more saturated petitive advantage over competing
warm white LED depicted in Fig. 6, under this light than under the light in Fig 6. technologies such as CFLs. At that
resulting in a 5500K CCT with a CRI point the marginal return of further
of 81. Although the CRI drops significantly unchanged. These results only apply to the increasing LED luminous efficacy will make
it does so because the saturation of the color particular swatches use in the CRI calcu- trading some of that efficiency off for higher
swatches in the CRI calculation increases lations. It is practically impossible to pre- CRI a more attractive option. Phosphor tech-
with the exception of swatches TCS02 (yel- dict how swatches with different spectral- nology should also continue to improve,
low) and TCS06 (light blue). The saturation reflectance characteristics would render reducing the need to tradeoff luminous effi-
of both of these swatches remains largely when illuminated by such a light. cacy for higher CRI.

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LED manufacturing | LARGE SUBSTRATES

Manufacturing LEDs on large diameter

substrates: Whats the holdup?
A transition to 6- or 8-in wafers will ultimately deliver lower-cost LEDs, although as MARCUS WEDDLE
discusses, the industry must overcome technical and logistical challenges.

I
n the search to cut the costs of manufac-
turing LEDs, switching to large diam-
eter (6-8-in, 150-200-mm) substrates is
often brought up as a key solution. In fact,
it is mentioned so often that one might
assume a mass transition to large diameter
has already occurred. Such a transition has
been slow to happen due to both technical
and logistical challenges. But as we will dis-
cuss, the advantages will ultimately be sig-
nificant enough that the LED manufactur-
ers will move to larger substrates, reduce
component costs, and further accelerate the
adoption of solid-state lighting (SSL).
Analysts are predicting that for 2013, less
than 20% of production will be on 6-in wafers,
with 8-in not even showing up in significant
numbers this year. Even three years from now,
large diameter is only predicted to be break-
ing the halfway point of all substrate sizes.
Th is may come as a surprise because the
demand for large diameter should be very
high it has often been cited as a fundamen-
tal cost saver to drive down LED chip prices.
With the industry-wide search to drive down
cost significantly, and large diameter seen
as a key way to accomplish this, why arent
more chip producers making this switch?
To answer this question, we will look at
three areas. First, what are the true bene-
fits of large diameter? Second, if the benefits need to look closely at the layout of LED chips, areas. However, as a percentage of the total
are truly great, then why arent more man-
ufacturers switching? Finally, well look at
some of the potential disruptions that might
bring quicker large diameter adoption, such
as c-axis CHES (controlled heat extraction
system) technology along with the pros-
pect of 8-inch substrates.
MARCUS WEDDLE is Marketing Manager for ARC Energy, based in Nashua, New Hampshire. Th e
company manufacturers CHES sapphire crystal growth furnaces and processing systems for the
LED, SOS, and optical/commercial industrial markets.
More LED chips zone, LED chip shape and size, and MOCVD
Well begin by looking at the main advan- reactor layout. Well explain these one at a
tage of moving to larger wafers more LED time, then feed them into a true comparison
chips. Yes, this is the biggest advantage, but simulator that will give us a much more rea-
its also unfortunately often overstated in sonable look at the number of LED chips sup-
this way: a large diameter 6-in wafer has ported by various wafer sizes.
nine times more surface area than a 2-in
wafer on which to form LED chips (Fig. 1). Exclusion zone
While the prior statement is certainly trueWe will first look at whats called the exclu-
in regards to the simple surface area of the sion zone on a wafer. During epitaxy, LED
wafers, the suggestion that you get 9 more material is not properly formed in this area,
meaning these chips shouldnt
be counted because they will
not result in good LEDs. For
our LED chip calculator, we
6 in
are using an industry stan-
dard 3-mm exclusion zone,
which is shown as red chips
8 in in Fig. 2. Note that the chips
4 in
on the extreme edge of the
wafer that are actually hang-
2 in ing off the wafer if they were
full rectangles are not going
to be counted at all for our
simulation.
FIG. 1. Small- and large-diameter sapphire cores. One important characteris-
tic of the exclusion zone is that
chip throughput by simply using 6-in wafers it is 3-mm from the edge regardless of wafer
sounds too good to be true and it is. Whats diameter. This fact means that the large
the real story? In order to answer that, we diameter wafers have larger exclusion zone
both on the wafer and as a group of wafers in wafer surface area, the large wafers have a
the MOCVD (metal organic chemical vapor smaller proportion of their area in exclu-
deposition) reactor where LEDs are formed. sion zones.
In addition to 6- or 8-in wafers simply So you can see how a 6-in wafer that has
being larger, we have to consider several other 9 more gross surface area actually has more
factors to get a true picture of the benefit of than 9 more net area (gross area minus
more LED chips. These factors are exclusion exclusion zone). The advantage results in
6-in wafers having 10.3 more net area, and
8-in wafers having 18.8 more, both as com-
pared to a 2-in wafer.
We also have to account for the rectangu-

LEDsmagazine.com FEBRUARY 2013 63

LED manufacturing | LARGE SUBSTRATES

lar footprint of LEDs. They dont perfectly rectangle, the advantage

2 in 4 in 6 in 8 in
fit in the round shape of the wafer some for 6-in wafers increases
LEDs will be lost by partially crossing into to 58%.
the exclusion zone. In a similar way to the Exclusion zone So fa r we have
(Black ring)
exclusion zone, these losses are a higher focused on comparing
percentage of the total for the smaller 2-in to 6-in wafers, but
wafers. The final advantage is shown in Gross surface area we should discuss other
advantage over 50 mm - 4 9 16
the chart in Fig. 3 that is based on 45x45- sizes as well. Todays
Net surface area
mil (thousandths of an inch) LEDs, includ- advantage over 50 mm - 4.4 10.3 18.8 LEDs are also made on
ing the spaces between chips. The result is 3- and 4-in wafers in
Net LED chip count
slightly higher gains in chip count com- advantage over 50 mm - 4.6 10.9 19.8 large numbers. What
pared with area 10.9 for the 6-in and is the relationship with
19.8 for the 8-in wafers. FIG. 3. Larger wafers greatly increase the number of LED these other sizes? Mov-
chips produced per wafer. ing from 2-in to 4-in
MOCVD reactor layout only gives 14.7% advan-
At this point, weve seen that a 6-in-diameter reactor confi guration, 56 2-in wafers can be tage, using a standard layout of 14 4-in
wafer actually holds slightly more than the loaded. In the same reactor only eight 6-in wafers in the reactor. The gain from 4-in to
often-quoted 9 more LED chips compared wafers will fit. Thats a ratio of 7:1 in favor of 6-in is much more significant at 35.2%.
to a 2-in wafer. But now we have to consider small diameter. For 8-in substrates, the advantage is a
that LEDs are grown in groups of wafers in So to simply break even in the final count, very large 77% more LED chips over 2-in
an MOCVD reactor. each 6-in wafer would need to hold 7 more and that is only from the five 8-in wafers that
The LED epitaxy process is one of the most LED chips than a single 2-in wafer. How- can fit in a typical MOCVD reactor. Compar-
expensive and time consuming of all the ever, weve already seen that a 6-in wafer ing a move from 6-inch to 8-in directly, there
has almost 11 more is a 14% gain.
LED chips. Put in other We now have an accurate view of the
terms, the 6-in config- advantage large diameter brings to the LED
Chips not counted uration results in 55% chip count: 55% more for 6-in and 77% for
more LED chips (1.55). 8-in. While these are impressive numbers,
This is the final true one factor we havent taken into account in
Chips counted in exclusion zone advantage weve been our LED chip simulation is LED chip yield.
looking for. While this We will look at this important factor next.
is much less than the
9 (900%) figure that Higher yield
3-mm exclusion zone edge
we started with, it is Each step in the manufacturing process of
still a very significant an LED chip has a yield loss, from the prepa-
improvement in the ration of substrates through chip packaging.
number of LED chips The yield losses at each step add up and con-
FIG. 2. LED chips in the exclusion zones along the edge of you get for the same tribute to a significant portion of the fi nal
wafers are not usable. cost of time and money chip cost. There is therefore a great deal of
for an MOCVD run. You focus currently on improving yield in all of
steps that go into the final delivery of an SSL can compare a typical MOCVD layout for these areas.
product. The input is a group of wafers, and small and large diameter wafers and their Switching to large-diameter LED manu-
the output is thousands of LEDs on those respective chip counts in Fig. 4. facturing has been linked to yield improve-
wafers. What we are seeking to answer is ment in a number of stages of the manufac-
how switching to large diameter will change LED chip size turing process. The potential benefits come
that LED count after the epitaxy process. Of We do need to consider another factor, and both directly as the larger wafer size is a
course, yield a measure of chips that func- that is LED chip size. For our calculations more uniform surface for epitaxy and indi-
tion correctly matters too, but we will look weve used 4545-mil rectangles, includ- rectly through the use of better manufactur-
at that later. ing the street width, or spaces between the ing equipment and techniques. While yield
Weve already said that you shouldnt chips. Th is size around one square mil- can be a complex subject, we will briefly look
expect the chip count you get after epitaxy limeter is typical for high-brightness at some highlights of the possible benefits.
to jump by a factor of nine, and now well LEDs and is therefore a good comparison. One of direct yield benefits of larger
see why. The primary reason is the fact that However, as chip sizes increase the advan- wafers comes during epitaxy. In the MOCVD
so many more small-diameter wafers can fit tage for large diameter wafers also increases chamber, any physical disturbances, such
in the reactor chamber. In a typical MOCVD slightly. For example, if you use a 6060-mil as wafer edges, can disturb the gas flow and

64 FEBRUARY 2013 LEDsmagazine.com

 LED manufacturing | LARGE SUBSTRATES

reduce yield. Larger wafers Small diameter Large diameter nies moved ahead despite these conditions
can help here because there Overlay of 150 mm 150 mm 200 mm and are today prepared for a rapid increase
are fewer edges and more showing surface 8 pockets 5 pockets in production as demand grows.
area advantage
undisturbed surface area.
The resulting higher yield Technology barriers
50 mm
during this expensive step 56 pockets
The second barrier to the adoption of large
is an important advantage. diameter substrates is a group of techno-
The second component of logical hurdles. It begins with challenges in
improved yield comes from sapphire crystal growth the fi rst step in
access to modern process 5650 mm (2") 8150 mm (6") 5200 mm (8") creating substrates. As you can see in Fig.
control and automation 5, todays sapphire for HB-LEDs is typically
Net surface area 88,274 mm2 130,288 mm2 147,796 mm2
tools, which are designed grown on the a-axis, even though HB-LEDs
around large-diameter Surface area gain require c-axis wafers. To get c-axis wafers
- 48% 67%
wafers and have been per- vs. 50 mm from a-axis sapphire boules, a core must be
fected in IC manufactur- Count of 4545 mil 62,944 97,600 111,280
taken sideways wasting a large part of the
ing. Todays commonly LED chips sapphire.
used small-diameter man- LED chip count gain - 55% 77% Todays a-axis sapphire growth tech-
vs. 50 mm
ufacturing techniques use nologies also result in defects that cannot
manual processes, requir- FIG. 4. The number of wafers that fi t in an MOCVD reactor be avoided when coring for large diameter
ing many human interac- ultimately gates the advantage of larger wafers. applications. The volume of a 6- or 8-in core
tions, and lack sophisti- is so large that the defects become unavoid-
cated tracking that could spot yield issues. through large-diameter wafer production, able and the cores must be shortened or
Many experts have pointed to a general see the article LED wafer and automation scrapped. The total losses from sideways cor-
need to move from a research-style produc- standards are on the fast track, ready for ing and defects waste over 80% of the mate-
tion environment to a true mass production more industry feedback (www.ledsmaga- __________ rial. For 8-in applications, the waste is over
environment. Lets look in a little more detail ________________
zine.com/features/8/10/9). 90% and the production costs double.
at what this means. Another barrier caused by a-axis growth
Automation primarily refers to the use of Market conditions is that the resulting wafers have a varia-
machines to handle and transport wafers At this point, weve seen how switching to tion in stress and strain across their sur-
removing the human element. Wafers can be large diameter wafers can create more chips face. Because the wafer is from a sideways
moved faster and with less damage through per MOCVD run and improve yield in sev- core of the boule, and the boule is grown
automated machines instead of being hand eral areas. Yet the industry
carried. The benefit is a combination of fewer this year is still predicted to Coring with defects cannot
be avoided with large diameter
skilled operators required, less loss of wafers produce over 80% of the LED a-axis
due to mishandling, and quicker movement capacity using small-diame- growth
Defects in the core result
through the manufacturing steps. ter substrates. Why? The rea- lost wafers (red area)
In addition to more automation, the use sons come from two factors:
of more modern tools brings better process difficult market conditions
control. Process control is the use of data and technological challenges c-axis
analysis to detect and predict problems in supplying large diameter coring 150 mm cores
that cause yield losses in any area of the substrates at a competitive
production process. Th is involves a track- cost.
ing and analysis of the substrate through- The price of 2-, 3-, and 4-in
out the process, extending back to the crys- wafers has dropped dramat- Older technology
tal growth stage. Process control also takes ically in the past two years a-axis boule
into account the analysis data recorded by due to an oversupply condi-
Defect losses reduce utilization
the various production tools. tion and lower-than-expected to less than 20%
The use of process control is often cited demand. At the same time, a
as a necessary step in advancing the LED step in the manufacturing FIG. 5. Taking large sapphire cores from a-axis boules
industry. As with automation, the tools process called PSS (patterned results in significant material losses and more defects.
needed for implementing process control are sapphire substrate) has
designed around large-diameter substrates, increased the performance of LEDs. These along the a-axis, the wafer itself has a long
so the benefit to switching goes beyond just two factors made staying with small diam- growth time signature across its surface.
more LED chips. For additional informa- eter an attractive option while waiting for Th is becomes significant during epitaxial
tion on the industrys move to improve yield higher demand. However, some large compa- growth when the wafer is heated.

LEDsmagazine.com FEBRUARY 2013 65

LED manufacturing | LARGE SUBSTRATES
As you can see in the Fig. 6, the wafer will
bow in an uneven pattern or a warp. Th is
warping is very difficult to counteract by
the MOCVD engineer and has caused several
attempted workarounds, including a move
to thicker wafers and the use of stress-reliev-
ing layers. These techniques add to the pro-
duction cost and complexity. Without coun-
teracting the warp, the result during epitaxy
is lower LED chip yield.
The last technology barrier is in the slic-
ing and polishing of the wafer and applica-
tion of PSS techniques. Slicing and polish-
ing are difficult processes and must be done
well to generate good yield during epitaxy.
Because the large wafers are 9-16 larger, the
difficulty increases significantly.
PSS application faces a similar challenge,
with the additional obstacle that the pattern
can only be seamlessly applied to a limited
size area smaller than 6 in. In order to get
PSS on a 6-in wafer, a stepper (a semiconduc-
tor manufacturing tool) must apply multi-
ple patterns, which is common in the silicon
industry. However, for HB-LEDs the edges of
the multiple pattern applications must be
closely matched or LED yield will drop. This
accuracy requirement is proving to be very
challenging.
These barriers of market conditions and
technology challenges have created multiple
limitations for the mass adoption of large-
diameter substrates. In the future, the mar-
ket demand will require the throughput and
yield only available using larger substrates,
and as a result the technology challenges
will be overcome. As proof of the possibil-
ity of overcoming the challenges, several
tier-1 manufacturers have already made the
switch and are positioned with an advantage
over the majority of the industry.
Potential substrate disruptions
It is certain that HB-LED manufactur-
ing will ultimately move to large-diame-
ter substrates. The question is how quickly,
and what material will be used for the sub-
strates? In this last section well briefly look
at potential answers to these questions.
As we said at the beginning, adoption
of large-diameter is currently low and pre-
dicted to take years to complete. However,
advances in alternative substrates to tradi-
tional sapphire may accelerate this adoption
or carve out niche channels for some compa-
66 FEBRUARY 2013
A small number of LED
Wafers cored using
older technologies manufacturers are even
have a long growth in production on each of
Variation time signature and
in stress variations in stress these substrates, yet not
and strain and strain
during as a cost-effective alter-
growth native to sapphire. Each of
these alternatives has cer-
tain advantages over sap-
Older technology phire, yet multiple break-
a-axis boule
throughs are needed for
one of them to signifi-
cantly displace sapphire.
Wafer heated during epitaxy: Of the alternative sub-
2D cross-section
strates, current predic-
side view tions give silicon the best
chance for success.
Because LEDs have
such a broad potential
3D view market, there will be
room for these alternative
FIG. 6. Wafers from a-axis boules are subject to warp substrates along with sap-
during the MOCVD process. phire remaining predom-
inant. For example, an
nies. But fi rst well focus on sapphire. advantage GaN substrate brings is higher
The main challenges we noted were the performance per chip albeit at very high
low material utilization due to a-axis growth cost. This substrate may find a niche where a
and the high level of defects that make larger single bright LED chip is desired or required.
wafers expensive. There are alternative The next diameter past 6-in is the 8-in
growth technologies that can grow directly wafer. These wafers give another dramatic
on the c-axis for much lower waste. In addi- gain in LED chip count and further opportu-
tion, growth technologies that avoid signif- nities for yield improvement. Yet the barriers
icant defects are also available. we examined earlier are the same, with the
Sapphire grown with these characteristics addition of the sapphire substrate costs dou-
of c-axis growth (also called on-axis growth bling over 6-in using a-axis growth methods.
for LED applications) and low defect levels Therefore the prediction is that one of these
are very well optimized for large-diameter
applications. As you can see in Fig. 7 depict-
ing c-axis CHES technology, the problems of
low material utilization and high defect lev-
els are both solved at once, with the addi- 75+% material
tional benefit of a near net shape boule. The utilization
result is over 75% utilization for both 6- and
8-in applications.
In addition, the problems of warp during
epitaxy that we saw from a-axis-grown sap-
phire are reduced as the c-axis CHES wafers
are grown with a single time signature across CHES c-axis
their surface (Fig. 8). Because of these advan- growth direction
and coring
tages, it is expected that as more manufac-
turers move to large-diameter applications,
the growth technologies will also transition
CHES
to c-axis, low-defect-level growth.
c-axis boule
Alternative substrates to sapphire, such
as silicon, silicon carbide, and gallium FIG. 7. C-axis sapphire boules improve
nitride (GaN) are also being researched. material utilization and minimize defects.
LEDsmagazine.com

CHES c-axis
growth and coring
2D cross-section
side view
3D view
FIG. 8. C-axis wafers exhibit less strain and warping during epitaxy.
alternative technologies (sapphire grown
on c-axis, silicon, or another substrate) will
become dominant for 8-in wafers and beyond.
Obstacles and benefits
In summary, we found a move to large-diam-
eter-based LED manufacturing provides a
55% increase in LED chips per MOCVD
LED manufacturing | LARGE
No stress and strain due to
a single time signature of growth
Older technology
CHES c-axis wafer a-axis wafer
With c-axis growth, wafers exhibit
less bow and warp during epitaxy
run using 6-in wafers, and a 77% using 8-in
wafers. In addition to more chips, the yield
would increase throughout the manufactur-
ing process due to better epitaxy yield, auto-
mation, and process control.
The reason these advantages havent
become common except with the largest
LED manufacturers are several market and
SUBSTRATES
technology barriers. These include a-axis
sapphire growth technology, a depressed
market, and the use of PSS. But new c-axis-
growth technology provides an optimized
path to supplying large-diameter sapphire
substrates. Other substrate materials, such
as silicon, will likely fi nd niche uses with
some manufacturers. The advances of larger
wafers will continue to the next step of 8-in.
Large diameter has already been proven
by large tier-1 manufacturers as an impor-
tant component in reducing costs and
increasing performance of HB-LEDs. See
Philips Lumileds announces workhorse
Luxeon T LED family (www.ledsmagazine.
com/news/9/12/7) for an example.
Yet many companies are staying with
small diameter wafers until the next
demand wave comes. However, companies
that are planning ahead to gain a competi-
tive edge as is possible with large-diameter
LED manufacturing will be more efficient,
more flexible to meet demand, and find suc-
cess in the future.
_____________
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financing | SSL PROJECTS
Energy Efficiency Financing scheme
lights up the path to green savings
A UK-based financing scheme provides funds to cover the upfront cost of lighting equipment, with
repayments aligned with energy-bill savings, as DARREN RIVA explains.
L
ighting can represent a significant
proportion of energy consumed in
non-domestic buildings, typically
accounting for 20% to 55% of the total elec-
tricity consumption on a commercial site.
Each year in the UK, non-domestic lighting
is responsible for around 24 million tonnes
of CO2 emissions according to the Carbon
Trust. Improving the energy efficiency of
lighting can therefore yield significant cost
savings, while reducing the environmental
impact. By deploying efficient lamp tech-
nologies such as LEDs, CFLs and energy-
saving halogen lighting, cost reductions of
up to 80% are possible compared with tra-
ditional lamp technology. Intelligent light-
ing controls can be used to further reduce
energy consumption, usually between 30%
and 50% in a typical office environment.
Clearly, there is a compelling case for
moving to more energy-efficient lighting
systems both from the fi nancial and envi-
ronmental perspectives. Nevertheless, many
companies are hesitant to take the first step,
largely because they are reluctant to spend
their capital reserves or simply lack access
to affordable funding. According to the Bank
of England, the annual rate of growth in the
stock of lending to UK businesses was nega-
tive in the three months to August. The stock
of lending to small and medium enterprises
(SMEs) and large businesses also contracted
over this period.
Boosting green investment appetite
To help businesses make green investments
in a tight credit environment, the Carbon
Trust and Siemens Financial Services
Limited (SFS) have initiated the Energy
DARREN RIVA is the Head of Financing for the
Energy Efficiency Financing (EEF) scheme.
LEDsmagazine.com
Efficiency Financing scheme (EEF). The
scheme is designed to provide financing for
organizations acquiring energy-efficient
equipment, with affordable monthly pay-
ments designed to match and to be offset
by the average monthly savings on energy
bills. In some cases, the value of the energy
savings can be greater than the monthly
fi nance payments, allowing the end cus-
tomer to be cash-flow positive from day one.
Suppliers of energy-efficient equipment
can also apply to become a
recognized supplier of the
scheme, which in turn will
allow them to integrate the
financing offer into their
overall sales propositions.
Th is removes the obstacle
of large up-front capital
investment for customers,
and helps suppliers to close
more deals as efforts can be
focused on providing the
best solution, rather than
being constrained by busi-
nesses facing capital budget restrictions.
In addition, fast payment of invoices for
the energy-efficient equipment are made by
SFS to recognized suppliers directly usu-
ally within a day of receipt of correctly com-
pleted documentation meaning improved
cash flow for the suppliers.
How the EEF scheme works
Financing can start from as little as
GBP1000 and go up to as much as hundreds
of thousands of pounds, even millions. Each
application (which must be from companies
with at least three years of trading history)
is assessed on its own merits and monthly
payments are adjusted to match or be less
than a customers anticipated energy cost
savings. This is usually arranged over terms
between one and seven years, although in
selected cases this can be for longer periods.
Where possible, the scheme wraps every-
thing into a single financing package under
a loan, lease or hire-purchase arrangement.
This includes the cost of an energy-efficiency
assessment, the equipment itself and instal-
lation. Customers can also include other
aspects, such as service into their monthly
payments, as well as nego-
tiating upgrades and add-
ons in the future as their
needs change. Financing
can be arranged directly by
the customer with SFS or
through the schemes rec-
ognized suppliers.
Prior to fi nancing being
approved, normal checks
for credit acceptance will be
conducted and an energy-
saving assessment will be
undertaken by experienced
specialists at the Carbon Trust, giving busi-
nesses the assurance that the expected car-
bon reduction, and fi nancial savings over
time, will match or exceed the finance
payments.
Reaping financial gains with EEF
The EEF scheme has already helped many
organizations reap financial savings and
reduce their carbon footprint. Nailcote Hall,
a hotel situated in Solihull, Warwickshire, has
leveraged this specialist financing to work on
a re-lamping project, converting 670 regular
halogen light fittings (which use between
35-100W) into LED light fittings using only
7W of power. The GBP30,000 ($ 48,000) invest-
ment should bring a saving of approximately
FEBRUARY 2013 69
 financing | SSL PROJECTS

GBP12,000-14,000 a year, with a return on
investment (ROI) of around two and a half
years. As the monthly payments are less than
the monthly energy savings achieved from the
new lighting, the hotel is cash-flow positive
from the very start of the project.
The North East Convenience Stores, a com-
pany with 18 outlets located from Blyth in
Northumberland to Eston in Middlesbrough,
has invested approximately GBP50,000 to
upgrade one of its premises with financing
from the EEF scheme. By replacing all refrig-
eration units and chillers with an energy-effi-
cient, remote open-deck refrigeration system,
and at the same time replacing the existing
lighting with LEDs, the electricity bill has
been cut by 40% and payback is expected in
less than two and a half years.
Paving the way for the green journey
With the establishment of the EEF scheme,
a large capital outlay is no longer a pre-req-
uisite for green investments by businesses.
Organizations can now easily afford to
upgrade their lighting as well as other equip-
ment to more energy-efficient alternatives,
thereby cutting unnecessary overhead and
strengthening their competitive position.
For equipment suppliers such as light-
ing manufacturers who can offer technical
expertise as well as a financing option such
as the EEF scheme in their sales proposition,
the commercial advantage they have over
their peers will no doubt benefit their busi-
ness and help make the green journey a much
smoother experience for their customers.

LINKS

Next Generation Streetlights guide covers LED technology to financing www.ledsmagazine.com/news/9/12/13

Europe provides funds and updates legislation to stimulate growth in SSL www.ledsmagazine.com/features/9/9/3
DOE Consortium introduces financial tool for LED street lights www.ledsmagazine.com/news/9/2/12
Bridgelux and Chevron partner on LED street lights, announce California installations www.ledsmagazine.com/news/9/3/1
European Commission initiates public consultation on LED lighting www.ledsmagazine.com/features/9/2/2
Appalachian launches smart LED street light and SSL Energy Solutions financing www.ledsmagazine.com/news/8/10/6

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70 FEBRUARY 2013 LEDsmagazine.com

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LEDsmagazine.com FEBRUARY 2013 71

design forum | DRIVING STRINGS
Fixed-frequency and
quasi-resonant flyback controllers
drive large LED strings
FRED SAWYER and MLADEN IVANKOVIC explain how to drive large LED strings, including RGB
implementations, for high-lumen-output applications.
W
hile several IC suppliers today
off er dedicated switching ICs
designed specifically for LED
applications, the majority of these devices
do not support DC-bus output voltage lev-
els greater than 45V, with a few devices
using advanced process technology that
support up to 60V. The output-voltage lim-
its the number of LEDs that can be driven
in a series confi guration where current
is shared equally among each LED in the
string. The limit to LEDs in a string can
both limit the total lumen output of a solid-
state lighting (SSL) design or the ability to
implement a color mixing scheme espe-
cially given that white LEDs have larger
forward voltage (Vf) values than red LEDs.
Driver developers, however, can use fi xed-
frequency and quasi-resonant (QR) flyback
controllers to implement the DC-DC con-
version stage and support higher DC volt-
ages and more LEDs.
Color mixing is one of several cases
when the need to support output voltage in
excess of 60V may be desirable. For exam-
ple, a 72V output can accommodate a string
of 19 white/blue/green LEDs or 24 red LEDs.
Alternatively, a manufacturer may need to
accommodate a wider range of DC bus volt-
ages derived from the converted AC line.
For example, consider the need to accom-
modate universal AC input voltages (85V-
270V) for use in a product sold globally.
Lets examine power-stage designs that
can accommodate comparatively high DC
FRED SAWYER is a Senior Staff Field
Applications Engineer, and MLADEN
IVANKOVIC is a Senior Application Engineer
at Infineon Technologies.
72 FEBRUARY 2012
CBulk
85 270 VAC
CVCC
HV VCC
Startup PWM controller
cell current mode
Precise low tolerance
peak current limitation
Power
management
Control unit
Active burst mode
Latch off mode
BL
Auto restart mode
ICE3BS03LJ (Latch & jitter)
FIG. 1. Fixed-frequency flyback controller.
bus voltage values. We will discuss a QR
controller with minimal turn on losses and
subsequent low electromagnetic interfer-
ence (EMI). And we will discuss both fi xed-
frequency and QR controller designs with
an added transistor to support dimming.
SPICE (Simulated Program with Integrated
Circuit Emphasis) simulation results will
demonstrate each concept and extract the
basic features of the QR controller, includ-
ing valley switching and current limit, to
prove the concept.
Typical applications for f lyback con-
trollers are in transformer-isolated AC-DC
applications. These devices also possess
features that allow them to be utilized
effectively in DC-DC buck, or step-down,
applications where supply voltages for
accommodating larger strings of LEDs
(50V and higher) are necessary. Addition-
ally these controllers can be configured
to support other useful features includ-
ing dimming and programmable current
capability.
Converter
Snubber
DC output
Gate
CS
RSense
FB
GND
Fixed-frequency and QR controllers
Both the fi xed frequency and QR controllers
(Figs. 1 and 2) contain an embedded power
cell or start-up cell capable of working with
high input-voltage values. Before the AC line
voltage is fully applied and has stabilized,
these internal cells provide a stable supply
voltage to the IC so it can perform the neces-
sary regulation. This is achieved by an inter-
nal switch that charges up the capacitor on
the VCC terminals before the stabilization
of the line voltage.
Once the line voltage stabilizes, the start-
up cell becomes inactive unless power is
interrupted. Under normal AC line condi-
tions the IC derives its VCC power from a
rectified AC source voltage. For either con-
troller, voltages in excess of 270V can be
supported at the IC input. Th is supported
input voltage value is far greater than that
supported by the typical DC-DC, fi xed-fre-
quency switching regulators that exist today
for LEDs. As previously noted, most are only
capable of handling maximum supply volt-
LEDsmagazine.com

ages of 60V (and more typically 45V).
A simple buck converter uses a fi xed fre-
quency controller that supports a DC input.
The driver acts as a constant current source,
so that regardless of the number of LEDs
connected each diode will see the same cur-
rent value. The transistor provides the refer-
ence voltage for the feedback and is matched
with the current-sense resistor in order to
achieve the desired output regulation.
Using the fi xed frequency device is a quick
and easy way to implement the DC-DC buck
converter concept. Its drawback is that as
a fi xed switching frequency device it exhib-
its greater EMI than other available alter-
natives. Moreover the maximum supported
duty cycle for these controller devices is
between 80-85%. Th is means that the out-
put voltage for the LED supply can only be
80-85% of the input voltage. As an example
a 60V DC input bus would be limited to sup-
porting a 48V DC output and 12-15 LEDs.
Quasi resonant advantages
For designs having stricter EMI standards
and needing tighter differentials between
the input and output voltage bus values, a
QR device should be employed. The exam-
ple in Fig. 2 uses Infineons ICE2QS03, which
contains an integrated start up cell along
with a digital frequency-reduction feature.
QR operation minimizes EMI by turning on
the field-effect transistor (FET) at the out-
put during the zero crossing phase a tech-
nique commonly known as valley switch-
ing. Another effect of turning on the FET at
the zero crossing phase is reduced turn on
CBus
85 265 VAC RVCC DVCC
CVCC RZC2
Dr1 ~Dr4
HV VCC ZC
Power
cell
Control
Zero crossing detection
GND unit
Power management
Digital process block
CFB
Active burst mode
FB limitation
Protection block
Current mode control
ICE2QS03
FIG. 2. Quasi resonant controller.
LEDsmagazine.com
________________________
losses, making this a very efficient switching
solution for a DC-DC buck converter applica-
tion. We shall see in a subsequent example
how this solution also accommodates dim-
ming applications.
Zero-voltage-switching operation occurs
when there is a resonant condition result-
ing from inductor L1 and the FET output
capacitance in the fully off state. Under
this condition, capacitor voltage eventu-
ally begins to fall and the inductor current
goes to zero.
We simulated this circuit concept using
National Instruments Multisim SPICE soft-
ware package. Th e inductor current and
FET drain waveforms are shown in Fig 3.
In this example the input voltage is 100V.
The output voltage and Inductor L1 con-
trol the rise and fall time of the current.
The turn on of the FET is initiated at the
valley point once the FET drain to source
voltage has been detected to reach its max-
imum value (100V). During this condition
the FET is deemed off and is subsequently
switched on by the QR controller. During
this phase the inductor current rises and
once the peak is reached the FET is fully
on. At this point the FET is turned off and
the inductor current discharges. The FET is
fully off once the inductor current reaches
zero and the drain to source reaches 100V.
Circuit performance
Fig. 4 illustrates the total average power
(voltagecurrent) across the switching cycle
and demonstrates how the QR controller
concept minimizes losses during turn on.
Snubber Wp Do Lf Cf Vo
Ws
RZC1 Co
Wa
CZC
Q1 Rb1
Gate Gate CDS
Rb2 Rovs1
driver
Optocoupler
Rc1
Current CS
RCS
Cc1 Cc2
TL431
Rovs2
FEBRUARY 2013 73
design forum | DRIVING STRINGS

Transient analysis
125 Dimming and current programming
In our circuit design, dimming can be
100
implemented by applying a pulse-width
75 modulation (PWM) input to the feedback
Voltage (V) (FB) pin and replacing the FB resistor with
50 a photo bipolar junction transistor (BJT)
Current (A)
placed in parallel with a current mirror
25
transistor such as the BC846. When the
0 paralleled configuration of the transistors
is turned on, the FB pin is grounded and
-25 there is zero current.
0 10 20 30 40
Time (s) Turning the transistors off sets the maxi-
mum current condition for the LED string.
FIG. 3. The waveforms depict the QR-switching or valley-switching concept. The yellow Thus by applying a PWM input, the resis-
trace is the inductor current and the red trace represents the FET drain voltage. tance seen by the FB
Transient analysis
pin can be changed,
We performed average power simulations 600 which adjusts the
on this circuit design to determine the effi- current f low and
500
ciency characteristics of this QR concept. establishes the dim-
While simulation represents only a the- 400 ming properties.
oretical result of what is to be expected Voltage current As previously men-
it nonetheless provides a good starting 300 tioned, the ICE2QS03
point for evaluating this concept. The QR controller has a
200
analysis was conducted assuming ideal Turn on losses d ig ita l-f requenc y-
are minimized
components (capacitors and inductors), 100 reduction property.
so the designer can view the losses that Once lighter load
are strictly attributed to the application 0 cond it ion s e x i st ,
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
of the QR topology. Time (s) such as during the
K e y f i g u re s f rom t he a na ly si s dimming of the LED
FIG. 4. A Multisim analysis shows the average power
include an average output power of light engine, the con-
(voltagecurrent) over the switching cycle.
(96.4579+96.4551)/2= 96.45W and an aver- troller subsequently
age input power of (99.5510+97.3866)/2= reduces its switch-
98.46. If you divide the output by the input take into account the effect from non-ideal ing frequency in accordance with the load.
we calculate converter efficiency of approx- components and or imperfections in the This positively impacts reduces the
imately 98%. As noted, this figure does not circuit-board layout. switching losses that are associated with
the FET and the inductor under
light load. Thus the controller
QR switching in the ICE2QS03 operates at optimal effi ciency
for any load condition.
A review of the functions performed by the the FET. The controller ultimately uses the Likewise the photo BJT, when
ICE2QS03 and each of the IC pins help illustrate CS function and the voltage present at the connected in parallel with the
the overall operational concepts discussed in feedback (FB) pin to determine when to switch BC846, can be used to program
the main article. the FET off. the current characteristics for
The zero current (ZC) pin takes in the The circuit operates by looking at the the driver via PWM control.
voltage resulting from the oscillation dictated sensed voltage across the shunt resistor (CS) The PWM scheme provides an
by the inductor and FET parasitic capacitance. and the voltage is applied to an internal current effective bias mechanism to
Internally, this pin is connected to the zero- measurement unit integrated inside the IC. The the transistors giving them the
crossing detector for to determine the switch-on output voltage from the CS pin is compared properties of a variable resistor
time of the FET for resonant operation. with the regulation voltage that is represented which in turn can control the
The current sense (CS) pin is connected to by the FB input. Once this current sense current levels.
the shunt resistor for primary current sensing voltage exceeds the FB voltage, the output flip-
externally, and to the PWM signal generator flop inside the IC is reset. As a result, the FET is Added safety features
to in part determine the switch-off time for switched off. A further modification to the

74 FEBRUARY 2013 LEDsmagazine.com


R2
C1
R1 0F
ZC
FB ICE2QSO3
HV CS
Gate
L1
Q1
BC846
Out
Current
sense input
FIG. 5. The addition of circuit-protection features can allow the controller to survive a
fault in the LED string.
QR design introduces detection and protec-
tion circuitry, so that a break in the LED
string does not create an overvoltage con-
dition. Th is is illustrated in the block dia-
gram in Fig. 5.
Th is design adds the TLE4305, which is
a combination voltage and current regu-
lator for switch-mode power supplies. Th is
device is used in conjunction with the QR
controller to provide the internal reference
voltage needed for the current sense. It is an
extremely low internal reference voltage (200
mV) thereby facilitating the use of smaller
current sense resistors in the application.
The QR controller has a zero-crossing-
detection (ZC) pin which performs multiple-
functions. First in addition to performing
the switch on of the MOSFET, once a valley
condition has been detected, it also serves as
the output overvoltage detector. In this case,
when the output voltage exceeds a specified
limit due to a broken LED string the QR con-
troller will undergo a shutdown for protec-
tion purposes. The condition is triggered by
the TLE4305 which detects the overvoltage
condition via sense resistors and an internal
reference voltage.
Flyback controller suits LEDs
Weve seen that a fl yback controller can
serve efficiently in DC-DC applications
where LED lighting is involved. Controllers
that contain a high-voltage start-up cell
can handle larger DC input voltages than
LEDsmagazine.com
design forum | DRIVING STRINGS
_______________________
GND
VCC
HV
MOSFET
LED1 LED2 LED3 LED6 LED4 LED5
TLE4305 R4
Overvoltage
protection
R3
switching ICs specifically designed for LED
applications. Th is allows the designer to
accommodate more LEDs in a series con-
figuration, ensuring that current is shared
equally by all LEDs in a string.
The QR controller achieves maximum
switching performance due to minimal
turn on losses which adds the benefit of
reduced EMI. However both the fi xed-fre-
quency and QR controller designs can
accommodate dimming requirements by
simply adding a transistor to adjust and
control the loops feedback resistance. The
transistor controls the amount of current
supplied to the LED string to produce the
desired dimming effect.
Likewise the driver designer has the
option to program the desired current
based on the use of PWM to defi ne an oper-
ating point that establishes the desired LED
current. The designer should also bear in
mind that a QR controller enables full use
of the available bus voltage because it is not
bound to duty-cycle limitations typical in
fi xed frequency devices.
A significant feature of the QR control-
ler scheme described here is that it also
affords the designer optimal efficiency
under dimming conditions compared to
that offered by a fi xed-frequency control-
ler approach. Under light load conditions,
the reduction of the QR controllers switch-
ing frequency minimizes associated losses
in the FET and inductor.
FEBRUARY 2013 75
last word
Zhaga helps SSL luminaire makers
reduce costs and supply-chain risks
ZHAGA CONSORTIUM General Secretary MENNO TREFFERS explains that vendor-interoperable light
engines will allow companies to support broader LED-lighting portfolios with more features.
M
any companies in the lighting indus-
try are struggling with profitabil-
ity in the transition to LED-based
lighting. Luminaire manufacturers are seeing
their R&D costs and stock levels increasing.
They are writing off increasing quantities of
obsolete stock, and are facing increasing risk
of quality problems in the field. Zhaga stan-
dards can help with these issues and acceler-
ate the adoption of solid-state lighting (SSL).
I spoke with a number of lighting man-
ufacturers who had increased their R&D
spending from around 3% of sales in 2006,
when they were designing luminaires with
conventional light sources only, to 6% of
sales last year, when 80% of the total went
on developing LED luminaires.
Such a high level of R&D spending does
not look sustainable for luminaire manufac-
turers. Costs will have to go down - not just
R&D costs, but also the cost of stock, stock
obsolescence, and the cost of quality. Why
has the R&D cost increased so much? Partly
because LEDs change faster than luminaires,
and partly because it is challenging to make
reliable luminaires that deliver the expected
long lifetime.
Modular design helps. In a modular lumi-
naire architecture, the LED technology is
separated from the optical and mechani-
cal parts of the luminaire. The R&D effort
can then be focused on maintaining the LED
module, a term that is used here loosely to
defi ne the part of the luminaire that con-
tains the LED technology.
Most luminaire companies already use
modular architectures this is the only way
to develop and maintain a broad portfolio of
76 FEBRUARY 2013
luminaires. While it may be obvious to sepa-
rate the LED technology, the choice of make vs
buy is less straightforward. Making your own
PCB with LEDs is attractive, and the cost is
lower than buying the equivalent off-the-shelf
module. This will get you luminaires with
minimum bill-of-materials (BOM) cost. On
the other hand, proprietary LED modules are
a burden for the R&D depart-
ment, and the design and main-
tenance of the modules will
increase your R&D cost.
Designing your own LED
modules has other pitfalls.
It is easy to get started, but
soon you will need variants
for other color temperatures,
light levels and CRI values.
Before you know it the R&D
department has doubled its
number of engineers.
Are you better off buying LED modules?
Not necessarily. They are more expensive,
and their integration into the luminaire still
needs careful engineering to make the lumi-
naire reliable. Furthermore, a module that is
competitive today may be outdated, or even
unavailable, a year from now. The dilemma
seems to be whether you should reduce the
R&D cost or the BOM cost. And what is the
effect on your stock levels, the risk of obso-
lete stock, and the diversity of your luminaire
product portfolio?
Zhaga offers a way out of this dilemma. By
specifying the interfaces of a series of different
LED modules, which Zhaga terms LED light
engines, Zhaga makes it possible for module
manufacturers to supply interchangeable LED
light sources. In the context of Zhaga, two
LED light engines are said to be interchange-
able when the luminaire manufacturer can
use either LED light engine without making
any change in the design (mechanical, optical,
thermal, or electrical) of the luminaire.
Luminaire manufacturers benefit from
interchangeability because they can more
easily switch from one sup-
plier to another. The avail-
ability of a second-source
supplier reduces risk. Not
only will interchangeable
LED light engines be more
competitive, they are less vul-
nerable to supply issues, and
that helps reduce stock levels
and the risk of obsolescence.
A subtle benefit is that inter-
changeable LED light engines
will offer more choice in terms of CRI, CCT,
lumen levels, lifetime, color stability, etc.
This offers luminaire manufacturers the pos-
sibility to play with different performance/
price levels in their luminaire portfolio with-
out increasing their R&D costs.
The impact of Zhaga is already visible.
For example, suppliers of linear indoor mod-
ules have started to offer products with the
mechanical dimensions and fi xation speci-
fied in Zhaga Book 7, even though that spec-
ification has not been published yet. Even if
you choose to design and manufacture your
own linear modules, it now makes sense to
make them compatible with Zhaga Book 7.
You may want to purchase these modules
later from an external supplier.
MORE: www.zhagastandard.org
LEDsmagazine.com
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