The Envisium Power PLCC-4 SMT LEDs, available in red, red-orange and amber, fill the need for mid-power illumination capabilities between the current Agilent PLCC-4 products, operating at up to 200 mW power levels, and Lumileds Lighting's Luxeon LED light sources that operate at power levels of 1 watt and higher. Other applications include home and commercial-building mood lighting and highlighting, garden lighting, and illuminated signs and signals.

"Agilent and Lumileds are already the optoelectronics market leaders," said Soo-Ghee Lee, vice president and general manager for the Optoelectronic Products Division in Agilent's Semiconductor Products Group. "On the strength of this new co-development relationship, we intend to increase our lead in fast-growing markets with a compelling set of Envisium solutions for automotive, consumer electronics and mobile phone customers. We'll apply our well-known quality, competitive pricing, worldwide customer support and industry-best lead times to win in our markets."

The use of high-performance Lumileds Lighting TS AlInGaP (transparent-substrate aluminum indium gallium phosphide) LED die enables the new LEDs to produce higher luminous flux output than any other PLCC-4 LEDs on the market. For example, the Envisium Power PLCC-4 SMT LEDs feature higher luminous output than the nearest competitor's offerings, which are widely used for automotive signaling applications.

"The Envisium Power PLCC-4 LEDs offer the best specifications in the industry," said Jason Posselt, director of product marketing at Lumileds Lighting. "They also offer much higher quality and reliability and superior mechanical characteristics to reduce tombstoning, prevent delamination and improve pick-and-place assembly."

The Envisium Power PLCC-4 SMT LEDs are based on the PLCC-4 standard package dimensions. The LED has a substrate made up of a molded plastic reflector on top of a bent lead frame. The die is attached within the reflector cavity, and the cavity is encapsulated by an Agilent proprietary epoxy blend. This package design, coupled with careful selection of component materials, allows the LEDs to perform with high reliability over the -40°C to 100°C temperature range, crucial in the harsh automotive operating environment. The Agilent-designed PLCC-4 SMT package can be driven at high current due to its superior package and thermal design, and is compatible with both IR solder reflow and through-the-wave soldering.

Pricing of the Envisium PLCC-4 SMT LEDs is less than $0.20 in high-volume quantities. To facilitate easy pick-and-place assembly, the LEDs are packed in EIA-compliant tape and reel. Every reel will be shipped in single intensity and color bin (except for red) to provide close uniformity. Samples and production quantities (four-week lead time) are available now through Agilent's direct sales channel and its authorized distributors.

Using proprietary technologies from both companies, the Envisium Power PLCC-4 (plastic leaded chip carrier) surface-mount LEDs were developed primarily for automotive exterior lighting applications such as center high-mounted stop lights, front turn signals, mirror turn signals and rear combination lights. They can also be used for automotive interior lighting applications such as instrument panel and control backlighting, central console backlighting, and navigation and audio systems.

The Envisium Power PLCC-4 SMT LEDs fill the gap for mid-power illumination capabilities between the current Agilent PLCC-4 products, operating at up to 200 mW power levels, and Lumileds Lighting's Luxeon LED light sources that operate at power levels of 1 watt and higher.

"Over the past few years, the 200 mW to 1-W range has been ignored, and we realized there is a huge need to fill that gap," said Jovani Torres, Americas regional product manager for Agilent's Optoelectronic Products Division.

Available in red, red-orange and amber, the companies claim the use of high-performance Lumileds Lighting's transparent-substrate aluminum indium gallium phosphide (TS AlInGaP) LED die enables the new LEDs to produce a higher luminous flux output than any other PLCC-4 LEDs on the market that are primarily used for auto signaling applications.

The Envisium red LEDs, with a 630 nm typical dominant wavelength, provide a luminous intensity of 630 to 1000 millicandela (mcd) minimum at 50 mA. The luminous intensity for red-orange at 50 mA, with a 617 nm typical dominant wavelength, is 1000 to 1580 mcd minimum. Amber LEDs, with a 592 nm typical dominant wavelength, offers a luminous intensity of 630 to 1000 mcd at 50 mA. The operating temperature range is -40°C to 100°C. The company notes that minimum luminous intensity is based on available intensity binning levels. They also offer a wide viewing angle of 120°.

What's key about the design of these new LEDs is the combination of TS AlInGaP LED die, and the PLCC-4 package which make them a perfect fit for exterior automotive applications. This combination will allow the auto industry to bring the industry-accepted PLCC package from the interior to the exterior of the automobile in high-volume production, Torres said.

In addition, the Envisium LEDs for exterior auto applications offer several key advantages. These devices are surface-mountable, thinner, and slightly brighter, Torres said. Another key benefit is that the Agilent-designed PLCC-4 SMT package can be driven at high current due to its package and thermal design, and it is compatible with both IR solder reflow and through-the-wave soldering.

Traditionally, these auto applications have used either light bulbs or Piranha lighting, Torres said. "Although many manufacturers use the Piranha lighting in their designs they have a lot of problems using it in this application because it's a four-prong device and requires special manufacturing processes to use them," Torres said.

Based on standard PLCC-4 package dimensions, the Envisium Power LEDs consist of a substrate with a molded plastic reflector on top of a bent lead frame. The die is attached within the reflector cavity, and the cavity is encapsulated by an Agilent proprietary epoxy blend. This package design, along with component materials, allows the LEDs to perform with high reliability over the extended temperature range of -40°C to 100°C temperature range, a critical spec for the harsh automotive operating environment, said the company.

An Envisium LED for camera flash applications in cell phones is under development for launch between second and fourth quarter 2005.

Pricing for the Envisium PLCC-4 SMT LEDs is less than $0.20 in high-volume quantities. Packaged on tape and reel, every reel will be shipped in single intensity and color bin (except for red) to provide close uniformity. Samples and production quantities are available now with a lead time of four weeks. Products will be sold through Agilent's direct sales channel and authorized distributors.

Agilent Semiconductor Products Group, 1-800-235-0312, www.agilent.com/view/led

Lumileds Lighting, 1-408-435-6111, www.lumileds.com