Wire bonding is one of the main processes of the LED packaging which provides electrical interconnec- tion between the LED chip and lead frame. The gold wire bonding process has been widely used in LED packaging industry currently. However, due to the high cost of gold wire, copper wire bonding is a good substitute for the gold wire bonding which can lead to significant cost saving. In this paper, the copper and gold wire bonding processes on the high power LED chip are compared and analyzed with finite element simulation. This modeling work may provide guidelines for the parameter optimization of copper wire bonding process on the high power LED packaging.
A new type application specific light emitting diode （LED） package （ASLP） with freeform polycarbonate lens for street lighting is developed, whose manufacturing processes are compatible with a typical LED packaging process. The reliability test methods and failure criterions from different vendors are reviewed and compared. It is found that test methods and failure criterions are quite different. The rapid reliability assessment standards are urgently needed for the LED industry. 85℃/85 RH with 700 mA is used to test our LED modules with three other vendors for 1000 h, showing no visible degradation in optical performance for our modules, with two other vendors showing significant degradation. Some failure analysis methods such as C-SAM, Nano X-ray CT and optical microscope are used for LED packages. Some failure mechanisms such as delaminations and cracks are detected in the LED packages after the accelerated reliability testing. The finite element simulation method is helpful for the failure analysis and design of the reliability of the LED packaging. One example is used to show one currently used module in industry is vulnerable and may not easily pass the harsh thermal cycle testing.
