LED with Particles in Encapsulant for Increased Light Extraction and Non-Yellow Off-State Color
First Claim
1. A light emitting device comprising:
- a semiconductor light emitting diode (LED);
a layer of phosphor over the LED; and
an encapsulant over the LED and phosphor directly contacting the phosphor, the encapsulant comprising a substantially transparent material containing inert non-phosphor particles, the particles being between 0.5%-10% by weight of the encapsulant, the particles having a substantially white color under white ambient light.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In one embodiment, sub-micron size granules of TiO2, ZrO2, or other white colored non-phosphor inert granules are mixed with a silicone encapsulant and applied over an LED. In one experiment, the granules increased the light output of a GaN LED more than 5% when the inert material was between about 2.5-5% by weight of the encapsulant. Generally, a percentage of the inert material greater than 5% begins to reduce the light output. If the LED has a yellowish YAG phosphor coating, the white granules in the encapsulant make the LED appear whiter when the LED is in an off state, which is a more pleasing color when the LED is used as a white light flash in small cameras. The addition of the granules also reduces the variation of color temperature over the view angle and position over the LED, which is important for a camera flash and projection applications.
112 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A light emitting device comprising:
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a semiconductor light emitting diode (LED); a layer of phosphor over the LED; and an encapsulant over the LED and phosphor directly contacting the phosphor, the encapsulant comprising a substantially transparent material containing inert non-phosphor particles, the particles being between 0.5%-10% by weight of the encapsulant, the particles having a substantially white color under white ambient light. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of manufacturing a light emitting device comprising:
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forming a layer of phosphor over at least a top surface of a semiconductor light emitting diode (LED); forming an encapsulant over the LED and phosphor so as to directly contact the phosphor, the encapsulant comprising a substantially transparent material containing inert non-phosphor particles, the particles being between 0.5%-10% by weight of the encapsulant and having an average diameter less than one micron, the particles having a substantially white color under white ambient light. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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Specification