LED application notes LED reliability
Longevity Characteristics
As mentioned earlier, the luminous intensity of LED lamps characteristically declines
slowly with use. Select LED lamps according to the level of reliability require in the
equipment in which they will be used.
Note the following points when requesting LED lamp reliability data from Toshiba, or
when using equipment to test the longevity characteristics.
Temperature Conditions
It may be useful to calculate such information as the longevity characteristics (at high
temperatures, normal temperatures, and low temperatures) of a discrete LED in an
environment in which the equipment will be actually used, and to test those calculations
by test operation of the equipment.
Humidity Conditions
Depending on the material used in an LED, operating the LED under high-humidity,
high-temperature conditions can dramatically reduce its lifetime. When an LED may be
used under high-humidity, high-temperature conditions, be sure to check its longevity
characteristics.
Current Conditions
Because lattice defects increase with use, the luminous intensity of LEDs gradually
declines. The speed of accumulation of lattice defects depends on the magnitude of the
forward current.
Others
When using a LED under conditions where factors such as vibration, shock, gas, or ultra-
violet affect the leads or resin, Marktech recommends testing the LED separately for each
potential affecting factor.
Disconnection Mode
As described in the section on the structure of LEDs, placing excessive stress on an LED
or subjecting it to extreme temperature changes may result in its disconnection. Factor as
differences in the thermal coefficient of expansion and varying levels of mechanical
stress can adversely effect chip mounting, bonding wire, leads and resin. The normal test
for disconnected LEDs is the temperature cycle test.
LED Lamp Temperature Cycle Test
Toshiba temperature cycle tests are normally performed on the LED lamp structure at the
upper-limit storage temperature and the lower-limit storage temperature.
Equipment Temperature Cycle Test
LED lamps are incorporated into equipment by soldering. The reliability of an LED
which has been soldered into a piece of equipment cannot be deduced from the results of
temperature cycle tests on loose LEDs that have not been incorporated into a piece of
equipment. Hence, Marktech recommends conducting temperature cycle testing and
reliability testing on LEDs which have already been soldered into place in a piece of
equipment.
Longevity Simulation
LED lamp longevity simulation techniques currently in use have failed to establish a
correlation between longevity and the tendency for luminosity to deteriorate in actual
applications.
A further problem is the difference between the ambient temperatures for loose LED
lamps not used in equipment and the ambient temperature for those combined into
equipment. The following examples show how simulation can be to obtain such
information. For simplicity the characteristics of a hypothetical LED lamp are used.
Example (a): Simulate the longevity of an LED lamp incorporated in control equipment
installed in a room in which high-temperature equipment is operating.
Environment:
High-temperature equipment operates for 1,080 hours a year (three hours a day x 360
days) with a forward current of 20 mA
LED lamp ambient temperature is 60?‹C, humidity = 90 %, 60 days/year: *Condition 1
LED lamp ambient temperature is 40?‹C, humidity = 90 %, 90 days/year: *Condition 2
LED lamp ambient temperature is 25?‹C, 210 days/year: *Condition 3
LED lamp longevity characteristics: Figure 17 shows the longevity characteristics of LED
lamps.
Figure 17 Simulation longevity characteristics
Simulation Example:
Calculating the LED lamp operating time per year by ambient temperature.
Condition 1 operating time: 3 hours x 60 days = 180 hours
Condition 2 operating time: 3 hours x 90 days = 270 hours
Condition 3 operating time: 3 hours x 210 days = 630 hours
The deterioration characteristics of Figure 17 were applied to each ambient temperature
using the above rates of operation.
Figure 18 shows the results. In the example, the longevity characteristics are simulated by
the approximate equation exp(- ?åt), with ?å changing each time.
Where the curve time constants for the
characteristics in Figure 17 are ?å1, ?å2, ?å3 and
luminosity residue rate = exp (- ?ånt), the
calculation is made by assigning ?ån to each
operating time.
Note: It is not possible to represent all the
different longevity characteristics by a single
approximate equation. It would be risky to
extrapolate the characteristics over ten or 20 years
based on the above examples and except the Figure 18 Simulation example
results to be accurate, even if the daily operating
time were short.
Cautions
Recent improvements have reduced the tendency for LED lamps' luminosity to decline with
use. The results of long-term studies of longevity characteristics now show that the
luminosity need not always attenuate. The decline in luminosity that occurs during use has
been evaluated using a Wiebel distribution function. Sometimes, even after thousands of
hours of longevity testing, the M-value does not change thousands of hours (see Figure 19).
Figure 19 Predictions from longevity test results (a), (b), (c)
With the tendency for luminosity to deteriorate already confirmed by the results of long-
term longevity tests in Figure 19 (a) and (b), longevity can now be predicted relatively
easily. However, in Figure 19 (c), no deterioration is seen, even after 10,000 hours of use.
It is not possible to decide whether deterioration proeeds in the (c-1) direction or the (c-2)
direction. In some cases, the deterioration in the M-value is large after a certain point, as
in (c-2).
The absence of luminosity reduction during longevity tests does not mean that the LED
lamp will not deteriorate at some point in its life. When determining the location in which
a piece of equipment incorporating an LED is to be used, if necessary perform longevity
testing under accelerated conditions, so as to predict the longevity characteristics based
on the actual conditions of use.
