Thermal Resistance Analysis of Light-Emitting Diode Modules with Thermal Via Structure

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) convert 15% of the applied energy to light and the remaining 85% to heat. High-power chips increasingly emit more heat, resulting in performance degradation and ultimately translating into shorter life expectancy of LED products. The industry is therefore researching product design structures to control the heat generated from high-power LED chips. Furthermore, substitute materials are being investigated to reduce cost by changing from the metal clad laminate structure, where aluminum, adhesive, and copper are used, to the copper clad laminate (CCL) structure, which uses low-cost FR4 and copper. In this study, to maximize heat release from low-cost CCL, various thermal via designs were fabricated and had a 1.75-W-class LED chip mounted on them. The thermal resistance variation was analyzed, and an optimal heat-releasing thermal via structure is proposed.