On the standardization of thermal characterization of LEDs

Nowadays the demand for thermal standards for power LEDs is increasing. On the one hand metrics for fair comparison of competing products are needed; on the other hand, designers of power LED-based applications demand reliable and meaningful data for their daily work. Today´s data sheet information does hardly meet any of these requirements. In earlier papers we compared the current situation in the LED world with the situation in the IC world over twenty years ago, observed that much can be learned from the progress achieved, and concluded with a proposal for action. This paper addresses thermal issues that are specific to light emitting diodes (in fact, also semiconductor devices), the drawbacks of the current situation with respect to the information in the data sheets, and emphasizes the need for electro-thermal models. It also includes a new version of the proposal for action. Note: This paper is an update of a paper presented at THERMINIC 2008.