In recent years, the brightness of LEDs has continually increased, allowing them to be used in completely new application areas. Due to the strong increase in brightness, the bonded system of chip and housing takes on increased significance. Generally, the lifetime of an LED is not due to the actual semiconductor chip itself, but primarily determined by the housing. The “lifetime“ refers to the period of time, whereby the brightness drops to half of its original value at a specific current. In order to achieve a lifetime in the range of 100,000 hours at room temperature for very bright LEDs, Osram has implemented a new sealing compound consisting of silicone.

OSRAM MIDLEDs are high powered devices in very small SMT packages. The devices are produced using MID (Molded Interconnected Device) Technology.

They are manufactured using dual component molding with the surface being partially metalized. An integrated reflector yields high radiant intensity without the use of lenses. The die is casted with silicone to ensure high temperature stability. The package can be placed as either toplooker or sidelooker.

This application note describes the handling of MIDLED s (silicone casted devices) and describes their unique radiation characteristics.