Thermal analyser scales down LED testing time

Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) has developed the In-Line Compact Thermal Analyser (ICTA) technology that it says can minimise LED thermal testing time by more than 90 per cent. The ICTA automatic thermal analyser offers a measurement speed of 12,000 LEDs per hour, reducing each LED's component thermal resistance testing time to 0.3s.

The rate is 2,000 times faster than the traditional lab method where only six components can be measured per hour.

Thermal performance has always been the primary factor impacting the life and light quality of LEDs. ICTA Technology claims to be the most powerful, cost efficient and high performance thermal analyser when compared to other LED thermal testers available, reducing the defect ratio of LED illumination products. While decreasing LED testing time, ICTA improves production yield, performance and lifespan of LED devices such as LED bulbs, mobile phones, TV, laptop display backlight, etc.

The innovative technology has a high-speed temperature sensitive parameter (TSP) measurement technique that could reduce LED testing time by more than 90 per cent, thereby improving the efficiency of thermal structure analysis. These attributes lead to more reliable LED devices for end-users. In power semiconductor devices, ICTA can be used to solve thermal-induced stress, enabling innovative package design and material property identification or facilitating lifespan estimation.

ICTA claims to be the most efficient thermal analyser, offering the critical thermal characteristics such as junction temperature and thermal resistance for semiconductor devices including LEDs, high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT), metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) and insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT).

ITRI has given the first technology transfer and patent licensing contract to leading global manufacturer MPI Corp. The company is engaged in technology cooperation that has yielded the world's first transient thermal structure and in-line thermal resistance analyser. This equipment is expected to get into the mass production stage by the end of 2014, which will both satisfy R&D and production authentication requirements.

Commercialisation of ICTA Technology is underway. The technology is available for transfer to companies worldwide.

- Paul Buckley
??EE Times Europe