LEDs Deliver High Brightness In Small Packages March 2003 Issue Published Date: March 01, 2003
With an eye on consumer electronics, the company's latest RGB, super-luminosity, tough-and-flush (TAF) LEDs and surface-mount chip LEDs promise brighter lights in smaller packages. The three-die TAF LEDs come in a six-pin package measuring 2.4 mm thick and feature the ability to use a larger drive current without increased degradation of the LED. The six-pin configuration allows the LEDs to be connected in series for use as a backlight to drive colors independently with the same current. The result is said to be better control of both heat output and color. Surface-mount LEDs include AlGaInP devices that measure 0.35 mm thick and 1616 dichromatic and full-color devices. The AlGaInP LEDs are also available in 0.55- and 0.8-mm 1608 chip sizes with the same footprint as the 0.35-mm version. Colors include yellow-green, blue, green, amber, sunset orange, and red. The dichromatic chip LEDs have two different colors in the same package and includes the option of having either die turned on or both simultaneously, yielding a third color. They are available in yellow-green/yellow, green/sunset orange, and yellow-green/red. The four-pin, full-color 1616 chip LED integrates three colors and is smaller than TAF LEDs and uses less power. TAF LED chips are priced from $2 to $3 each/5,000 and the surface-mount LEDs are priced from $0.05 to $1.25 each/5,000. SHARP MICROELECTRONICS OF THE AMERICAS, Camas, WA. (800) 642-0261.
