Avago Technologies’ ASMT-QxBE and ASMT QxBB Super Half-Watt Power PLCC-4 SMT LED Series

Avago Technologies’ series of super half-watt (0.5 W) power PLCC-4 surface-mount (SMT) LEDs are the first smallest Half-Watt PLCC-4 in the industry that have been targeted for use in automotive and electronic sign applications. These 0.5 W LEDs from Avago feature the industry’s smallest package size, a wide 120° viewing angle, and have been optimized for long operating life under severe environmental conditions. Moreover, these new high-brightness LEDs were designed to dissipate heat more efficiently to provide superior thermal management and consistent light output. Avago’s 0.5 W LEDs are well suited for use by designers of automotive interior and exterior lighting, electronic sign and signal (ESS), office automation, home appliances and industrial equipment. The super 0.5 W power PLCC-4 SMT LEDs are available in cool white, warm white, blue, green, amber, red-orange and red colors.

Avago’s series of 0.5W SMT LEDs can be used for backlighting dashboards, dome and map lighting, puddle lamps, rear reverse lamp indicator lighting and license plate illumination in automotive applications. These LEDs can also be used for decorative lighting in general lighting applications, channel lettering in electronic signs and signal (ESS) applications, and for backlighting instrument panels and displays in industrial equipment, office automation and home appliance applications. Moreover, the high brightness output per LED and small package footprint (3.2 L by 2.8 W by 1.9 H mm) of Avago’s 0.5W high-brightness power LED series provide lighting designers with greater flexibility in designing the size, shape and appearance of lighting assemblies.

In addition to the combination of high-brightness, long life and compact size, Avago’s 0.5W power PLCC-4 series of LEDs provide two significant advantages in the production environment: They can be easily soldered using conventional surface mount techniques to minimize production costs, and the package is qualified to a Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) moisture sensitive level (MSL) rating of 2A. For manufacturers, this rating means that the 0.5W power PLCC-4 LEDs can be kept in the open air (30° C, 60 percent relative humidity) for up to four weeks after being removed from its sealed package without the need to remove absorbed moisture.

LEDs are rapidly evolving to provide light sources for general illumination. Avago’s super 0.5W Power PLCC-4 SMT LED series can also be used for decorative lighting in general lighting applications, channel lettering in ESS applications, and for backlighting instrument panels and displays in industrial equipment, office automation and home appliances.

Lighting designers who need a high brightness 0.5W LED that offers a competitive price for premium performance ($/lm) ratio, as well as a superior thermal management and high reliability performance.

Being the smallest and brightest among the 0.5W PLCC products on the market, with its high reliability and high optical efficiency, Avago’s ASMT-QxBE series will encourage more designers to make the conversion from incandescent light to high brightness energy efficient LEDs, and thus drive the LED adoption rate to grow in solid state lighting and automotive applications.

Cree’s New XLamp XP-E and XP-C LEDs
Industry's Smallest Lighting-Class LEDs Set New Performance Benchmarks

Cree, Inc. has introduced a new standard for lighting-class LEDs with the introduction of the XLamp XP-E and XP-C LEDs. These breakthrough LEDs have the smallest footprint in the industry for lighting-class LEDs, providing the same high-quality lighting performance and proven reliability as Cree XR-E and XR-C LEDs in an 80 percent smaller package.

The XLamp LEDs, measuring 3.45 mm² by 2 mm high, can enable new applications, including backlighting, signage, outdoor, indoor and portable lighting, due to their small size and low profile as well as a wide viewing angle and symmetrical package. Available bins for XLamp XP-E LEDs include minimums of 100 lumens at 350 mA in cool white (5,000 K to 10,000 K) and 80.6 lumens at 350 mA in warm white (2,600 K to 3,700 K).

"We recognized an unmet need for lighting-class performance in a small-footprint, low-profile LED package. These products, based on an innovative new technology platform, address this need," said Paul Thieken, Cree marketing director for LED components. "This new platform, in concert with the existing XLamp products and the recently demonstrated XLamp MC-E LED, give LED lighting designers enhanced flexibility and performance to further accelerate the LED lighting revolution."

Optek Adds 1 Watt Star Series LEDs in Cool, Daylight and Warm White for Architectural and General Illumination

Providing lighting design engineers with a versatile, integrated solution for high luminous flux LED lighting, TT electronics Optek Technology has developed a complete series of 1 W single-LED assemblies on metal-core PC boards. Designated the OVTLZ Optimal I Star series, the assemblies consist of Optek’s Lednium series 1 W LEDs, proven for reliability, long life and low thermal resistance (<2°C/W), integrated with a thermally-conductive heat spreader substrate to achieve an overall thermal resistance of 4.9°C/W from LED junction to an additional heatsink.

“The Optimal I Star series LEDs provide tremendous design flexibility for lighting engineers,” said Alan Bennett, vice president of sales and marketing for Optek Technology. “Available in a full range of colors, including three colors of white light specifically designed to meet requirements for architectural and general illumination, the assemblies feature a robust, energy-efficient design that can be mounted with thermal epoxy and/or mounting screws.”

Because thermal management of an LED’s junction temperature is the most critical design parameter for optimizing LED efficiency, color consistency and longevity, Bennett continued, Optek integrated its 1 W LEDs with metal core substrates to provide the superior thermal characteristics that solid-state lighting designers require.

The Optimal I Star series LEDs are being specified for architectural and general illumination, interior/exterior automotive lighting, signage and specialty lighting applications.

The Optimal I Star series LEDs are offered with a viewing angle of 135° in the following emitted colors/luminous flux values: blue (460 nm/12 lm), cyan (505 nm/40 lm), green (515 nm/60 lm), red (625 nm/45 lm), amber (595 nm/35 lm), cool white (7,000 K/65 lm), daylight white (5,800 K/60 lm), and warm white (3,500 K/50 lm). Typical forward voltage at 350 mA ranges from 2.3 V to 3.6 V, depending on color.

Four soldering pads provide two pads each for anode and cathode connections, as well as locating slots for mounting screws. The assemblies are 0.78 inches (19.8 mm) in diameter on a 0.04 inch (1 mm) thick PC board.

Future Lighting Solutions Offers the Industry’s First Thermal Simulation Software for High-Power LEDs That Accelerates Development And Decreases Costs

Future Lighting Solutions and Qfinsoft have released QLED, the first thermal design software developed for the solid state lighting industry. QLED minimizes the number of design cycles, reduces development costs and decreases time to market by eliminating the traditional trial-and-error approach to thermal design. The software guides users through step-by-step design wizards to select, place and simulate power LEDs mounted on FR-4 boards or MCPCBs. Additionally, users can seamlessly integrate thermal vias, heat sinks and fans to generate the most accurate transient or steady state thermal simulations. An evaluation version of QLED can be downloaded for free at www.futurelightingsolutions.com/qled.

“In addition to generating extremely precise thermal simulation results, QLED also calculates the expected luminous flux produced by the LED,” said Jan Visser, president of Qfinsoft Technology, Inc. “QLED can also be used to simulate slow and fast transients as well as automatically improve designs by using a highly efficient mathematical optimization algorithm.”

“Customers using QLED can literally develop, simulate and optimize thermal designs in minutes instead of working with a thermal design engineer and costly software alternatives,” said Patrick Durand, Worldwide Applications manager for Future Lighting Solutions. “QLED will revolutionize how the solid state lighting industry develops new products.”

AZARA Low Voltage LED Track Luminaire

The AZARA boasts a unique and stylish design, but it also functions superbly in its mechanical and thermal capacities. The design achieves all of the technical requirements for optimum light output and efficacy by integrating the heat sink into the fixture design in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Additionally, the AZARA’s function is enhanced by utilizing the modularity of Journée’s monorail track system and the Sprocket LED Light Engine.

The AZARA LED luminaire features bold aesthetic design and innovative features, providing an attractive and efficient alternative to traditional light sources. It also offers a new solution for the ever-changing nature of LED technology, which increases in light output and efficacy on a quarterly basis.
As a result of collaborative efforts between Journée’s industrial designers, mechanical engineers and thermal engineers, the AZARA’s housing is sculpted to not only appeal to the eye aesthetically, but also perform as an active heat sink. Although the AZARA is relatively small in overall size, with a 3” diameter and 5” length, there is a very substantial amount of heat dissipating surface area, which allows for a longer lasting lamp life than most other luminaires in its class. The total heat sink surface area of the AZARA exceeds 100 square inches, which promotes extremely low LED junction temperatures.

Due to the built-in flexibility of the Sprocket LED Light Engine, the AZARA offers features that no other LED luminaire can compete with, including WattageAdjust, an on-board dip switch that provides a choice of three brightness settings of 6 W, 8 W and 10 W. The AZARA is available in three Energy Star recognized color temperatures (3,000 K, 4,000 K and 6,500 K) and two beam angle options (12° and 27°). Potential applications will be in retail stores, museums, galleries, visitor centers and restaurants. In addition, the AZARA complies with California’s Title 24 standards and the US Green Building Council LEED standards being adopted across the country.

HF2 Narrow Stick

Osram Sylvania's HF2 Narrow Stick modules are a new and innovative module design utilizing an array of small discreet LEDs in a 0.5 inch wide, long and short board pattern. This module is designed to provide a visually diverse field of view of the LEDs, where it provides a highly desirable closely packed led pattern to provide an illumination output that rivals other traditional linear lamp sources. The products are available in four easy to use designs as full light output and 50 percent light output long boards and short boards.

The product family will be initially introduced supporting three color temperatures: 3,000 K, 3,500 K and 4,000 K. The system can be connected board to board with the integrated three pin connectors. The system can be controlled utilizing the Osram Sylvania Optotronic 24 VDC power supplies and can be enhanced by utilizing a OT DIM control interface to allow dimming via 0 to 10 V controller.

Journée Lighting’s Sprocket LED Light Engine

The Sprocket is the first time that a removable LED “light bulb” has been produced with the specific intent of making a thermal connection to the fixture housing. The thermal connection allows the Sprocket to achieve output and efficacy that no other screw base “bulb replacements” can compete with. In addition, it has been developed with OEM manufacturers and consumers in mind. Lighting manufacturers, especially those that are not currently in the LED sector, can benefit by using Journée’s technology to reduce the learning curve of LEDs and gain faster entry into the industry. This will help facilitate the adoption of LED technology into more homes and businesses across the country.

While LED-based lighting has been recognized as the fastest growing segment in the lighting industry because of its energy efficiency and long life, its widespread adoption has been hindered by the challenge of how to properly manage and disperse the heat LEDs emit. High-output LEDs require direct thermal coupling to a heat sink device in order to achieve the advertised life expectancies from manufacturers. This often results in the creation of an LED assembly that is not upgradeable or replaceable within a given light fixture. As a solution, the Sprocket LED Light Engine from Journée Lighting offers the next generation of the traditional Lamp + Socket form factor by incorporating the company’s patent pending Thermal Conduction Technology.

The Sprocket is composed of two primary parts: the LED Light Engine and the LED Socket. The LED Light Engine uses Journée’s Thermal Conduction Technology to transfer heat directly into the light fixture housing through the use of a compression-loaded thermal pad. The LED Socket contains integrated compression ramps and an electrical contact assembly to provide the interface between the Light Engine and the fixture housing. Through a clockwise twisting motion, the compression ramps move the LED Light Engine down into the fixture and mate its compression-loaded thermal pad to the fixture housing. This compressed interface is what allows for proper thermal conduction from the Light Engine into the fixture housing. As the LED Light Engine twists into position, it connects with the LED Socket’s electrical contacts for electricity transmission.

Life expectancy is directly proportional to the design of the fixture housing and how well it dissipates heat. Therefore, the fixture housing must act as a heat sink device and disperse the LED’s thermal energy into the ambient air, wherein the LED’s lifetime is extended. The LED Light Engine’s life expectancy will also be greatly affected by the wattage setting being used. Wattages can be adjusted by the end user with Journée’s WattageAdjust feature, which is built into each LED Light Engine and is controlled by a small dip switch on the side of the assembly. Preset wattages are 6, 8 and 10 watts. The Sprocket has a life expectancy of 50,000 hours to 70 percent lumen depreciation. It also operates at 24 VAC or 24 VDC from a remote transformer and uses a high-power multi-chip LED package. The Sprocket is available in three Energy Star recognized color temperatures of 3,000 K, 4,000 K or 6,500 K.

Through Journée’s OEM program, the Sprocket assembly will enable traditional light fixture manufacturers to gain entry into the LED market faster than ever before, reducing the heavy costs associated with research and development. This new Lamp + Socket combination can provide a standard by which the LED industry can begin to move forward and integrate with the general lighting sector. With Journée’s exclusive design, end users will also have the ability to upgrade their Light Engine as LED technology advances.

Journée Lighting’s Sprocket has improved technical specifications, allowing it to be used in light fixtures that will be specified in the toughest code restrictions that must comply with California’s Title 24, Energy Star requirements and/or LEED certification.

Nexxus Lighting Introduces New Array Lighting LED Lamp Line of Products

Array lamps utilize Selective Heat Sink technology (SHS). SHS is a new and innovative approach to thermal management that uses proprietary design and materials to lower thermal resistance to record levels, which allows an array of low power, high efficacy LEDs to achieve unmatched performance. Array lamps deliver more than 37 percent more lumens per watt over the best in class competitive offerings, with a LED package that delivers 95 lumens per watt in bright cool white and 80 lumens per watt in color rich warm white. SHS allows all Array lamps to utilize recycled injection molded housings that fit standard incandescent and halogen fixtures. This means the days of large aluminum heat sinks are gone. Unlike compact fluorescent lamps, Array lamps contain no mercury or lead and are compliant with RoHS standards. All lamps can be dimmed on any commercial dimmer and can also be equipped with Dynamic Dimming, which allows lamps to dim to preset levels (75 percent, 50 percent, 25 percent and off) with the flip of your existing light switch – no need to add a dimmer if you don’t have one.

The production of the Array product line is fully robotic / automated and provides required demand capacity and allows Nexxus Lighting to provide unmatched quality and lamp to lamp consistency at a lower cost than competitive offerings.

Nexxus Lighting will initially offer four new LED lamps in the Array Lighting line: Array LED MR16, Array LED PAR16, Array LED PAR30 and Array LED G4/G6. Each lamp is fully dimmable, available in cool white and warm white color options and fits standard incandescent and halogen fixtures. The MR16 and the PAR16 provide a solid-state alternative to 35-watt halogen and incandescent bulbs, respectively, while the PAR30 marks the first LED lamp lumen equivalent to a 75-watt incandescent bulb utilizing less than 8 watts of power. The G4/G6 fits into standard under cabinet fixtures and includes red, blue, green and amber color options. Additional lamp types will be added in the near future.

“We are proud to introduce the world’s first 95 lumens per watt LED lamp line with unmatched performance, low environmental impact and competitive pricing,” said Mike Bauer, president and CEO, Nexxus Lighting. “With our innovative Selective Heat Sink technology and ground-breaking Array Lighting brand, Nexxus Lighting has solidified its position as an industry leader in advanced LED lighting technology.”

SynJet Active Cooling Technology by Nuventix

Innovation in lighting design is being greatly impacted by innovation in thermal management. Prior to the use of synthetic jet technology, product designers were limited in the size and lifespan of their LED designs due to the heat constraints unaddressed by traditional thermal management solutions (fans). Today, patented SynJet technology by Nuventix provides high reliability, low audible noise, flexible form factors and low power consumption cooling – all attributes which greatly benefit the LED product designer.

The LED market, stand-alone lighting as well as for use in LCDs, is proliferating at the rate of 15 to 20 percent per year and is expected to reach $7 billion in just three years. This growth will be attained through new uses of LEDs, many of which will require active cooling. SynJet technology is well suited for active LED cooling because of its high reliability, low power consumption, quiet operation and almost undetectable airflow. It allows two to three times the light output compared to passive LED thermal management designs. Current designs implementing SynJet technology include the Philips Fortimo and Lexel LED DLM, offer twice as many lumens as products of the same form factor.

Proper thermal design is critical for LED products to achieve high lumen output and long life. Without effective thermal management and heat sinking, the junction temperature of an LED rises, causing it to lose efficiency and create diminished light output. Thermal stress can also lead to failure of the LED wire bond, delamination, detached internal solder joints, and die-bond epoxy damage. For every 17ºC above 90ºC an LEDs life expectancy is cut in half. An active cooling solution is often necessary for applications that use many tightly packed LEDs, have a small volume or surface area where natural convection is inadequate, or that are located where the ambient temperature is high. Active cooling allows the lumen output of individual LEDs to increase without the repercussion of thermal damage or lower life expectancies.

Some applications may also require resistance to dust and particle contamination or unusual geometries to accommodate innovative aesthetics. SynJet cooling solves all of these problems.

The SynJet module creates turbulent, pulsated air-jets that can be directed precisely to locations where thermal management is needed for industrial spot or chip cooling requiring high reliability and flexible form-factor implementations.

The vortex-dominated SynJet flow enhances small-scale mixing near the heated surfaces to yield higher effective heat transfer at low-volume flow rates compared to conventional air movers. The SynJet flow is created using Nuventix’ patented actuator technology and proprietary fluidic packaging expertise. High flexibility, reliability and effective active cooling are all necessary to create LED lighting solutions for retail, business and consumer audiences.

Albeo LED High Bay Industrial Luminaire

Albeo Technologies’ Constellation series LED High Bay is a luminaire that brings the many benefits of LED technology to industrial and commercial customers across a broad range of segments, including retail, warehouse, data centers and manufacturing. To date, large-scale industrial and commercial market segments have not had access to industrial LED lighting solutions, as no company has been able to optimize LED technology enough to product high-illumination, maintenance-free, energy-efficient solutions to meet their unique industrial demands.

The Constellation LED High Bay is an industrial-strength, extremely bright luminaire that provides a maintenance-free, energy-efficient alternative to traditional high-intensity discharge or high-intensity fluorescent light fixtures.
Albeo has applied their patent-pending TEMPR technology, which involves thermal optimization techniques at the component, assembly, and fixture level, to maximize brightness, lifetime and efficacy. Albeo delivers the Constellation High Bay with the same five-year warranty that is applied to the entire Albeo offering.

With maximum brightness, efficiency, and value versions, Albeo's High Bay can be tailor-made to suit the unique requirements of any application.

Commercial and industrial customers who have been plagued with spending exorbitant maintenance and electricity costs for their traditional lighting. For large-scale applications, such as lighting a manufacturing floor, the traditional solution has been high-intensity discharge or high-bay fluorescent because of the sheer volume of light they provide. However, both solutions are plagued with short lifetime, leading to constant maintenance requirements. These maintenance costs are particularly onerous when the lighting is over machinery that operates 24 hours a day or over public areas that don’t allow for easy access by maintenance crews. The sheer scale of many industrial and commercial facilities and the inefficiency and expense of their traditional lighting amounts to a huge nation-wide problem.

Albeo’s Constellation High Bay advancement will undoubtedly benefit all large-scale commercial and industrial facilities who are currently struggling with the poor quality, high-maintenance cost, and inefficiency of their current lighting.

Both the industrial and commercial segments have suffered greatly due to the inefficiency and high-maintenance expense of lighting their facilities through traditional lighting products. The benefits of LED will allow industrial users to take the cost of lighting maintenance off of their P&L, and redeploy maintenance resources to other pursuits that drive revenue, rather than merely create costs.

Albeo is effectively servicing a market segment that has never before had access to LED lighting solutions. Albeo’s industrial LED lighting, based on their patent-pending TEMPR Technology, enables LED to address this large, new market segment and further drive the inevitable replacement of all traditional lighting technologies.

AUREA Ambilight

Philips has released Aurea, the latest in Ambilight FlatTV, creates an ambient experience beyond normal viewing that integrates effortlessly into any interior environment offering a minimalist profile while turned off and an absorbing experience while in use. The result is a combination of style and sophistication that is the future of FlatTV.

The Active Frame AUREA Ambilight system is executed with LED technology. With LEDs it is possible to achieve very exciting saturated colors. However in initial Consumer Tests it was found that these saturated colors can also be disturbing to the Consumer. A good balance was found between saturated and non-saturated colors produced by the Ambilight systems. Algorithms in the TV set are used to control the colors and to create an immersive and relaxing viewing experience.

Aurea not only represents the future in visual entertainment, but is an iconic design piece that will change the way consumers view their home entertainment devices. Even when switched off, Aurea creates the perfect environment featuring clean, white geometric looks.

On one hand the Active Frame AUREA Ambilight has to meet the optical performance for color, color uniformity and luminance. On the other hand the Active Frame Ambilight system is a design feature that has to look well in on and off state. This puts additional requirements to the materials and optical system. By using LED technology the dimensions of the optical system of the Active Frame can be kept to a minimum allowing the integration in the AUREA.

By replacing one lamp by multiple LEDs it is possible to drastically enlarge the number of independently addressable light zones in the total light system. With lamps it was possible to have only one addressable light zone. With the LEDs in AUREA there are 3 individual zones on the top and bottom side of the TV and 4 on the side. For this pixelated Ambilight new requirements are put on how to drive the individual LEDs. Conventional LED IC drivers reduce flexibility in use due to restrictions on supply voltage, efficiency and complexity for driving individual LEDs in a multi pixel Ambilight environment where individual pixels have to be addressed.

Integrating a LED light system into an AUREA puts some additional requirements on the LED system. Some requirements are related to Consumer Electronics requirements concerning safety, quality, serviceability of the system, flamability and cost.

Other requirements are related to the TV application. Because the optical system is fully integrated in the TV set it is not straightforward to use traditional light guide materials such as PMMA. This is due to safety reasons or because of thermal and humidity expansion.

The AUREA Ambilight system with Active Frame also has an impact on the way a television system is built. The conservative layered stacking of a design front plate, display, electronics and a back cover will no longer be sufficient. Mechanical parts will now also have an optical function. The full integration of the LED Ambilight systems in TVs also means innovations has to be made for other set functions. Supporting functions such as LED indications, local keyboard, infrared remote control reception, speakers and light sensor are typically present in the front part of the set for functional reasons or for accessibility to the customer. Where the presence of these elements in the TV front of a set in a classical TV design is not an issue and is even exploited from a design point of view, these elements will be disturbing in the clean design approach that will be needed with the Active Frame AUREA Ambilight system.

Sol Introduces New, Energy-Efficient LED Sign Lighting Solution

Sol (Solar Outdoor Lighting) has released a new, energy-efficient, LED signage product. Sol’s solar-powered LED IllumiSign sets a new standard in sustainable, energy efficient sign lighting.

“The IllumiSign LED lighting technology provides superior visibility, performance and reliability,” said Michael Sonnenfeldt, chairman of Sol, Inc. “Additionally Sol offers the only solar-power option on the market, which reduces energy and installation costs and enables companies to install their signage anywhere.”

IllumiSign has additional advantages:
• Uniform LED brilliance. Compared with fluorescent tubes, IllumiSign engineers out hot spots and improves visibility dramatically. IllumiSign is available in two power options: conventional 120 VAC or stand-alone solar power. This flexibility allows for installation on or off the grid for all applications.
• Easy to install. IllumiSign is strictly plug-and-play with no additional wiring, which means companies save on labor and assembly costs.
• Built to endure. Designed for OEM and retrofit projects, Sol offers an industry-leading, 5-year warranty for the IllumiSign. Plus, IllumiSign is vandal-resistant, since its solid-state LEDs are not exposed even if the sign panel is broken.
• Energy efficient. IllumiSign uses as little as 10% of the electricity of conventional lighting, reducing energy costs.
• Maintenance free. IllumiSign is ETL listed to the UL 48 standard, made with a rugged aluminum housing. It provides a service life of 100,000 hours, which is 15 years of brilliant performance.
• Exclusive solar option. Only Sol offers the flexibility of solar power, allowing IllumiSign systems to be installed off the grid, wherever desired or required, with no trenching or hardwiring. Brilliant illumination and reliable performance – right where you need it. No electricity? No problem.