Impact of extinction coefficient of phosphor on thermal load of color conversion elements of phosphor converted LEDs

Besides their direct impact on the respective correlated color temperature, the extinction coefficient and the quantum efficiency of the phosphor also have tremendous impact on the thermal load of the color conversion elements of phosphor converted LEDs under operation. Because of the low thermal conductivity of the silicone matrix in which the phosphor particles are typically embedded, the by far highest temperatures within the LED assembly are reached within the color conversion element. Based on a combined optical and thermal simulation procedure we show that in particular a larger value for the extinction coefficient might have a beneficial impact on the resulting thermal load.