LED junction temperature tester
An instrument measures the LED junction temperature directly by taking advantage of the linear relationship between the forward current driven through the LED, the forward drop of the LED, and the junction temperature to determine the LED junction temperature. Calibration is conducted by placing two LEDs from the same family in ambient temperature and passing a small test current through each of the LEDs to obtain the forward drop of the LED at ambient temperature. The LED under test is then placed in an environmentally-controlled chamber where the temperature is raised a known amount above ambient temperature. Known low and high voltage values are associated with the ambient temperature and the environmental chamber temperature, causing the LED under test becomes a calibrated thermometer that can measure its own junction temperature due to the linear relationship between the forward drop and the junction temperature.
This application is a divisional application of U.S. Ser. No. 10/337,246, which was filed on Jan. 6, 2003, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/345,241, filed Jan. 4, 2002.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONHigh intensity LEDs are becoming more popular as light sources for traffic lights, automobile interior and exterior lighting, signboards, and other applications. The light output of a silicon LED chip is not only a function of the chip size and the process, but also a function of the junction temperature of the LED. By keeping the junction temperature low, LEDs can be driven with twice or three times as much current and, thus, generate twice or three times the light output while still extending the life of the LEDs. Currently, however, there is no instrument that can drive a LED at a given current and measure the corresponding junction temperature rise at the same time.
There is a desire for an instrument that can measure a relationship between LED junction temperature and drive current.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention is directed to an instrument that can measure the LED junction temperature directly. With a simple calibration procedure for each family of LEDs, this instrument can read the temperature rise above the ambient in ° C. directly. The invention takes advantage of the linear relationship between the forward current driven through the LED, the forward drop of the LED, and the junction temperature to determine the LED junction temperature. When the junction temperature increases, the forward drop will decrease at a constant rate.
Calibration is conducted by placing two LEDs, a test LED and a reference LED from the same family in ambient temperature and passing a small test current through each of the LEDs. The test LED is then placed in an environmentally-controlled chamber where the temperature is raised a known amount above ambient temperature. Once the junction temperature of the LED is the same as the temperature in the environmental chamber, a gain potentiometer is adjusted so the digital voltmeter reads a known value and a potentiometer is locked, causing the LED under test becomes a calibrated thermometer that can measure its own junction temperature.
The measured forward drop of the LED at any given temperature minus the forward drop of this LED at ambient temperature (which is stored in the reference LED and the zero potentiometer) with an inverting amplifier stage will therefore provide a direct reading of the junction temperature rise. Since the test LED has already been calibrated in the environmental chamber, the digital voltmeter will read the junction temperature rise in ° C. directly.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Generally, an LED junction temperature testing instrument according to the invention can read the temperature rise above the ambient in degrees C. directly with a simple calibration procedure for a given LED family. In one embodiment, the forward drop of the LEDs can also be measured so that the calculation of the thermal resistance in ° C./watt can be done easily.
The forward drop of LED (light emitting diode) is function of the forward current as well as the junction temperature. When the drive current increases, the forward drop will also go up. When the junction temperature increases, the forward drop decreases at a constant rate. As is known in the art, the relationship between the temperature and forward drop in LEDs is linear over the operating temperature range. To measure the junction temperature of the LED, the drive current used should be small enough to minimize any self-heating effects in the LED.
To start the calibration process, the instrument drives a test LED and a reference LED from the same family and at the same ambient temperature with the same current. Both LEDs should have approximately the same forward drop when they are in the same ambient temperature and have the same current flow through them. Any differences in the forward drops of the LEDs can be adjusted by using a zero potentiometer. This step basically stores the forward drop of the test LED in the reference LED forward drop and the zero potentiometer.
The test LED is then placed into an environmentally-controlled chamber having an adjustable temperature. The temperature in the chamber is then raised a known value (e.g., 50° C.) above the ambient temperature. Once the junction temperature of the test LED is the same as the temperature in the environmental chamber, a gain potentiometer is adjusted and locked so that the higher temperature corresponds with a known voltage. Because the low (ambient) junction temperature and the high (environmental chamber) junction temperature are known and because the low and high temperatures are tied to known low and high voltages, the linear characteristics of the LED's forward drop with respect to junction temperature allows the LED under test to act as a calibrated thermometer that can measure its own junction temperature.
A built-in timing circuit in the instrument directs the current flow through the LED under test. In one embodiment, during one cycle (0.1 second) a large preset drive current is flowing through the LED to heat it up 99% of the time, while there is a constant current of, for example, 100 uA flowing through the LED only 1% of the time during which the LED forward drop is measured.
The measured forward drop is stored in an analog memory so that information is available for the remainder of the cycle. This signal minus the forward drop of this LED at ambient temperature, which is stored in the reference LED and the zero potentiometer, with an inverting amplifier stage will give a direct reading of the junction temperature rise. Because the LED has already been calibrated in the environmental chamber, the digital voltmeter will indicate the junction temperature rise in ° C. directly.
The inventive instrument will be described in more detail below with reference to the Figures. Note that the specific values shown in the example below are for purposes of illustration only and are not meant to be limiting in any way.
Currents from the constant current source 300 and the adjustable current source 400 are added together using diodes D1 and D2. A N-channel MOSFET is connected between the anode of D2 and ground. This MOSFET is used to bypass or shunt the adjustable current to ground when its gate is high (12 V). When the calibrate/run switch in the timing circuit block 200 is in calibrate position, both the sample-and-hold signal and the drive signal to the gate of the MOSFET are high. The adjustable current will flow through the 1-ohm resistor and the MOSFET to ground.
Diode D2 is reverse biased, causing the test LED to have only 100 uA flowing through it. At the same time, the sample-and-hold signal is also high; thus, the circuit in block 500 will constantly monitor the forward drop of the LED under test by measuring its forward drop at 100 uA.
When the calibrate/run switch is switched to the “run” position, the drive signal will be “off” for 99% of the time and “on” for 1% of the time, as noted above. When the MOSFET gate is “off”, the drain source junction is open and the adjustable current source add to the 100 uA current source will flow through the LED under test. This will drive the LED to a selected brightness and heat the LED junction at the same time. When the gate of the MOSFET is high, the drain source junction will be a short circuit and only the 100 uA current will flow through the LED under test.
At approximately the same time, the sample-and-hold signal goes high and starts the sampling process in block 500. When the sample-and-hold signal and the drive signal to the MOSFET both become low, the hold circuit remembers the forward drop of the LED at 100 uA and ignores the forward drop of the LED under large current. By using a reference LED from the same family as the LED under test with a 100 uA drive current, most of the forward drop at ambient temperature will be cancelled out. The potentiometer zeroes out any voltage differences between the reference LED and the test LED, making the net voltage change read at DVM2 from the post amplifier in block 500 directly proportional to the temperature rise of the test LED junction above ambient temperature. A digital voltmeter DVM3 is placed directly across the test LED to measure the forward drop at that particular drive current.
When the switch block 220 is open (Calibrate position) the output to block 240 will be “0” (0 volt) and the output from block 240 to block 250 will be “1” (12 volt) all the time. When the switch in block 220 is closed, the output from block 220 will be “1” and the LED will be turned on. The output of block 240 will be a pulse train that has a duty cycle of 1%. This means the output will be “0” (0 volt) 99% of the time and “1” (12 volt) for 1% of the time. This pulse train goes to block 250 into a 2 K-resistor and 0.1 uF capacitor (an RC circuit) in one branch and straight through, without encountering any circuit components, in a second branch. The RC circuit slightly delays the original signal while the second branch allows the original signal to travel through unimpeded and without any delay.
Since V1=1
Since V1=0 to 5V
At switch position 1, Rs=10.
The current I=0 to 500 mA.
At switch position 2, Rs=100.
The current I=0 to 50 mA.
Operational amplifier IC4 is connected as a non-inverting summing amplifier. This stage adds the forward drop of the LED under test, the negative forward drop from the reference LED and a zeroing signal from block 530. When the calibrate/run switch is in a calibration mode, both LEDs will have 100 uA flowing through them. With the fine adjustment of the zero potentiometer, the output to DVM2 will be zero. When the calibrate/run switch is switched to run position, the test LED will have a preset amount of current flow through it and started to heat up and the output from the sample and hold stage will start to drop. The output of IC4 will become negative and the output to DVM2 will start to increase. If the reference LED and the test LED belong to the same family and the test LED has been tested during the calibration cycle, the output of IC5 to DVM2 can read ° C. directly with better than 0.5° C. accuracy.
It should be understood that various alternatives to the embodiments of the invention described herein may be employed in practicing the invention. It is intended that the following claims define the scope of the invention and that the method and apparatus within the scope of these claims and their equivalents be covered thereby.
Claims
1-18. (canceled)
19. A method for measuring a junction temperature of a test LED, comprising:
- driving a test LED and a reference LED with a first drive current at a first temperature;
- linking the first temperature to a first known voltage;
- raising the junction temperature of the test LED to a second temperature;
- linking the second temperature to a second known voltage;
- driving the test LED with a drive current; and
- measuring a forward drop of the test LED, wherein the forward drop of the test LED is responsive to the first drive current and indicates the junction temperature of the LED based on a linear characteristic obtained from the first and second known voltages corresponding to the first and second temperatures.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of raising the junction temperature of the test LED comprises placing the test LED in a temperature-controlled environment and raising the temperature of the environment to the second temperature.
21. The method of claim 19, wherein the driving step comprises driving the test LED with a first drive current from a constant current source and a second drive current from an adjustable current source.
22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:
- driving the reference LED with the first drive current when the test LED is driven by the first drive current and the second drive current; and
- comparing the forward drop of the test LED with a reference forward drop of the reference LED to determine the junction temperature of the test LED.
23. The method of claim 19, wherein the measuring step comprises:
- sampling and holding the forward drop of the test LED; and
- comparing the forward drop of the test LED with a reference forward drop of the reference LED to determine the junction temperature of the test LED.
Type: Application
Filed: May 30, 2006
Publication Date: Dec 14, 2006
Inventor: Kelvin Shih (Brighton, MI)
Application Number: 11/443,485
International Classification: G01K 7/00 (20060101);