Parametric study of efficient thermal dissipation in an LED back light unit

Purpose Thermal management under high heat flux is crucial to developing high-power light-emitting diode (LED) applications. The purpose of this paper is to propose an efficient thermal dissipation technique for an LED back light unit (BLU) system. Design/methodology/approach A typical BLU system includes an LED package (GaN on sapphire, cathode/anode, silicone encapsulant, resin plus phosphor) on a printed circuit board (PCB), a light guide panel, and an aluminum cover frame. The temperature distribution of this system has been simulated and the thermal behavior within a 3D model has been investigated using a commercial computational fluid dynamic code (FLUENT 6.3). Findings The authors examined the heat-spreading effect of cover lengths ranging from 6 to 300?mm and also observed the effect of back cover thickness on the junction temperature and cover frame temperature and investigated the influence of the air gap between the package and the cover frame. Removing the air gap lowers the maximum temperature by about 6 percent. It was found that the addition of a copper layer covering the external surfaces of the LED chip enhanced the cooling efficiency. Finally, the maximum junction temperature can be decreased by more than 21 percent in the range of parameters considered by removing the air gap, adding a heat spreader, and using a thick cover frame. Originality/value In this paper, thermal management for efficient heat spreading through a typical BLU system without using any additional devices is investigated. Several parameters that increase the system's temperature are examined, and a combination of design features that attenuate the junction temperature is proposed.