Light emitting devices, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), may be utilized in products for providing white light (e.g., perceived as being white or near-white), and are developing as replacements for incandescent, fluorescent, and metal halide light products. A representative example of an LED lamp comprises a package having at least one LED chip, a portion of which can be coated with a phosphor such as, for example, yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG). The LED chip can produce an emission of a desired wavelength within the LED lamp, and the phosphor can in turn emit yellow fluorescence with a peak wavelength of about 550 nm on receiving the emission. At least a portion of the emission from LED chip can be transmitted through the phosphor, while at least a portion can be absorbed by the phosphor. The portion of the light that is transmitted through the phosphor is mixed with the yellow light emitted by the phosphor, and the viewer perceives the mixture of light emissions as white light. As an alternative to phosphor-converted white light, red, blue, and green (RGB) light emitting devices may be operated in combination to produce light that is perceived as white. Conventional LEDs, packages and methods producing white light can be designed for lower voltage applications.
Despite availability of various LEDs and LED packages in the marketplace, a need remains for improved packages suitable for applications such as those utilizing higher voltages, to enhance light output performance, enhance thermal performance, improve device reliability, and to promote ease of manufacture.