Index matched fluidic packaging of high power UV LED clusters on aluminum substrates for improved optical output power
We present an improved cooling for a high power density UV LED module for a wavelength of 395 nm. The module consists of 98 LED chips soldered on a thick film printed alumina substrate on an area of 2.11 cm2. We investigated cooling by a commercial water cooler as well as by a surface micro cooler developed by our own. Further we describe a technology to replace alumina by aluminum as substrate material. A module consisting of 25 UV LEDs was optically characterized without and with liquid encapsulation. Finally we conducted numerical studies to develop an easily producible, sufficiently powerful, and robust water cooler. Based on the results we present a water cooler design with cooling channels embedded in the aluminum substrate of an LED module, removing the interface between LED substrate and heat sink.
Thermal improvements for high power UV LED clusters
We present a high power density UV LED module for a wavelength of 395 nm with an optical power density of 27.3 W/cm2. The module consists of 98 densely packed LED chips soldered onto an Al2O3 ceramic board. Thermal and optical measurements were conducted. The module was cooled by a forced air heat sink for the characterization experiments. A room temperature liquid gallium alloy was used as thermal interface material between substrate and heat sink with a TiN barrier layer to prevent corrosion. Further a technology to replace Al2O3 ceramics by aluminum as substrate is presented. An initial characterization shows that aluminum with a dielectric layer for electrical insulation is a competitive substrate material for efficient heat removal.
Microstructure devices generation by selective laser melting
Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is a generative manufacturing procedure mainly known for the application with metal powders. From these, metallic structures are produced in a layer-by-layer way. This layer-related procedure is comparable to the stereolithographic manufacturing of polymer devices. On a base plate, a thin layer of metal powder is spread. The powder is locally completely melted by the application of a focused laser beam. The base plate is then lowered by a value defined by the thickness of the metal layer, metal powder is spread again, and the local melting process is re-initiated. The complete procedure is continued as described, until the device is manufactured in the defined way. Commercially available metal powder can be used as base material. In principle, the SLM process should be suitable for the generation of metallic microstructures. The main precondition for the generation of microstructures by SLM is that the spatial resolution of the laser focus is small and precise enough to generate microstructure walls of around 100μm thickness in a reproducible way by melting metal powder. The walls should be gas- and leak-tight. In this publication, experimental results of the generation of metallic microstructure devices by SLM will be given. The process will be described in details. Process parameters for the generation of stainless steel devices having wall thicknesses in the range of about 100μm will be given. Examples for microstructure devices made by SLM will be shown. The devices can be manufactured in a reproducible way. Moreover, very first preliminary results on the use of ceramic powder as base material will be presented.