WESTAMPTON, NJ-Lamina Ceramics says it has broken a technological barrier with its development of the brightest LED light engine ever built. The ultra-high lumen RGB (red-green-blue) LED array is about 10 times brighter than any previously demonstrated. It generates light in any of more than 16 million vibrant, saturated colors, including white, and represents a quantum leap in solid state lighting technology. The company is now accepting orders for delivery of the device during the second quarter of 2005.
According to the company, the new ultra-high lumen light engine is expected to revolutionize the solid state lighting industry and result in many new applications for LED lighting, including illumination for buildings, large interior spaces, and other architectural lighting uses.
The key to achieving the ultra-high light output is Lamina’s proprietary multi-layer ceramic-on-metal packaging, providing unsurpassed thermal management and interconnectivity between individual light-emitting diodes. Designated as low temperature co-fired ceramic-on-metal (LTCC-M), it is a breakthrough technological development providing an unmatched combination of thermal performance, greatly lengthened LED life and reliability. LTCC-M enables Lamina to densely cluster multiple LEDs to achieve exceptionally high luminous intensities in very small footprints: The array of LEDs comprising the light engine is round and 5 inches in diameter.
Lamina, a venture-backed corporation, is the exclusive licensee of Sarnoff’s 12 years of research into LTCC-M. Lamina has continued Sarnoff’s spirit of innovation through the ongoing development and optimization of LED arrays.
“Historically, LED lighting systems have not provided the high lumen output necessary for many types of general illumination, observed Nadarajah Narendran, director of research, Lighting Research Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. “This barrier has relegated solid-state lighting to indicator applications, such as traffic signals and exit signs. Heat extraction is a key factor in creating LED arrays with high lumen output and longer life. With emerging high-lumen LED systems, the technology’s dream for general lighting is more promising than ever.”
The 13,300 lumen, 860-W RGB LED engine also breaks a world record with its 677 lumens per square inch of vibrant, saturated colors. (The previous best-to-date array provided 100 lumens per square inch.) Featuring independently controlled channels for red, green, blue or additive color mixing to produce white, it provides 4600 lumens of red (at 210 W), 7600 lumens of green (at 320 W) and 1100 lumens of blue light (at 330 W). Additionally, this “record setter” can simulate dawn through noonday to dusk white light with variable color temperatures ranging from 3000-6500ºK., with corresponding lumen output ranging from 6500-9000.
“This revolutionary LED light engine greatly extends our existing line of small and bright to large and exceptionally bright products,” said Joe Mazzochette, Lamina’s vice president of engineering. “Across all our products, Lamina’s patented chip-on-board technology allows us to manufacture solid state light engines with amazing thermal performance which are compatible with virtually every high-brightness LED die manufactured. Great thermal performance allows us to package dense arrays of HB-LED devices which still operate below critical temperatures even when they are pushed hard.”
With outputs ranging from 8 to 2000 lumens (and passively cooled), Lamina’s lower intensity light engines are available in a variety of customizable configurations ranging from 7.3 by 8.4 mm (delivering from 8 to 45 lumens) to 26.7 by 31.8 mm (delivering from 162 to 2000 lumens). Wattages range from 1 to 100 in colors including white, amber, red, blue, green, and RGB.