OSRAM OSTAR – SMT – General Information

Application Note

Abstract
This application note provides insight into
the high performance OSRAM OSTAR –
SMT product family.
A fundamental overview of the construction,
handling and processing of the LED is
presented. In addition, advice concerning
thermal characteristics and verification of the
design is given.

OSRAM OSTAR - SMT

The OSRAM OSTAR - SMT LED was devel-
oped with focus on the following application
areas in lighting technology:

PROJECTION

Embedded or companion projection

for mobile devices (e.g. laptop, digital
cameras, portable media players)
Accessory – projection

GENERAL LIGHTING Above all, the OSRAM OSTAR - SMT is

predestined for use in applications where
Mood lighting outstanding brightness and luminance com-
Architectural lighting (effect- and bined with a low geometric spreading of the
accent lighting) illumination area is required.
General Lighting This particularly applies for applications with
additional lenses or lens systems.
However, it is also suitable for special
applications such as: Due to its small form factor, the OSRAM
OSTAR - SMT provides fresh impetus for
Microscope Lighting applications in the general lighting sector
High-quality Flash Lamps and offers lighting manufacturers the
Operation Lighting in Medical possibility to design and develop new
Technology illumination concepts as well as lighting
Backlighting designs or lighting systems.

According to the different requirements of

the application areas the OSRAM OSTAR -

January, 2014 Page 1 of 14 Application Note Number: AN083

 SMT is currently available in different color Thereto the converter material is applied
combinations (Table 1). directly to the chip surface.
This has the advantage that the conversion
layer can be applied with a homogeneous
thickness and in a uniform concentration.
Thus, the converted light is nearly constant
across the entire chip surface, allowing a
uniform white light to be achieved.

Equipped with ESD protection diodes, the

OSRAM OSTAR - SMT possesses an ESD
withstand voltage of up to 2 kV according to
JESD22-A114-D.
Table 1: Available color variants of the
Due to its compact and efficient design the
OSRAM OSTAR - SMT
OSRAM OSTAR – SMT features so very
small dimensions (5.8x4.7x 1.5mm), as well
as a very low typical thermal resistance of
Construction and features
Rth,JS = 3,1K/W.
As light source for the LEDs, four highly
efficient semiconductor chips of the thin film The control of the OSRAM OSTAR - SMT
technology (ThinGaN and ThinFilm) are can be realized directly on the printed circuit
used, depending on the variant. These are board, whereby each chip can be regulated
mounted on a ceramic substrate, connected individually over its separate contacts.
with wires and covered with glass (Figure 2).
In consequence of the surface emission of
the chips and the glass cover the OSRAM
OSTAR - SMT possesses a Lambertian
radiation characteristic (Figure 3).

Figure 2: Internal construction of the Figure 3: Radiation characteristic of the

OSRAM OSTAR - SMT OSRAM OSTAR - SMT

In addition to high efficiency, the thin film As with all other LEDs from OSRAM Opto
technology has the distinct advantage that Semiconductors, the OSRAM OSTAR –
the chip is nearly a pure surface emitter. SMT product group fulfills the current RoHS
For the white version of the OSRAM guidelines (European Union & China), and
OSTAR – SMT, this means that the wave- therefore contains no lead or other
length conversion for creation of white light hazardous substances.
can be carried out directly at the chip level.

January, 2014 Page 2 of 14 Application Note Number: AN083

Handling
In addition to general guidelines for the
handling of LEDs, additional care should be
taken that mechanical tension on the
ceramic and particularly, stresses (e.g.
sheering forces) to the glass cover of the
OSRAM OSTAR – SMT are avoided.

During the handling all types of sharp

objects (e.g. forceps, fingernails, etc.) should
not be applied in order to prevent stress to
the glass, since this can lead to damage of Figure 5: Correct handling of the OSRAM
the component. OSTAR - SMT

For manual assembly and placement – in When processing by means of automated

the production of prototypes, for example – placement machines, care should be taken
the use of so-called vacuum tweezers is that an appropriate pick and place tool (min.
recommended (Figure 4). inner diameter of 2.0mm) is used and that
the process parameters conform to the
package characteristics. As a starting point a
placement force of 2.0N is recommended
and should be minimized if possible.
Figure 6 shows the recommended design of
the placement tool for damage-free proc-
essing of the OSRAM OSTAR – SMT.

When putting the OSRAM OSTAR – SMT

into operation, it should be assured that
sufficient cooling system is provided.
Depending on the given circumstances,
extended operation without heat dissipation
can lead to overheating, damage or failure
of the component.

Figure 4: Examples of vacuum styluses Care should be taken as well to ensure that
no other components (e.g. additional optics)
By means of individually exchangeable soft in the application are mounted flush with the
rubber suction tips, the effective mechanical glass cover of the OSRAM OSTAR -SMT.
stress on the LED is minimized.
The vacuum stylus functions such that by
pressing on the button, a vacuum is created, Cleaning
with which the component (e.g. the LED)
can be lifted. Since the OSRAM OSTAR – SMT features
By releasing the pressure on the button, the an open design which allows an exchange
vacuum is removed and the component can between the inside and the outside of the
be placed at the desired position. glass cover it should be minded that no
particulate matter of any kind will be dumped
If there is not an alternative to the use of a by water or any other liquid into the inner
forceps, the LED must be picked and section of the light source.
handled only at the ceramic base (Figure 5).
January, 2014 Page 3 of 14 Application Note Number: AN083
Figure 6: Recommended design of the pick & place tool for the OSRAM OSTAR – SMT
(e.g. Siplace #913 or #933 with rubber flange)

It is also recommended to prevent organics Processing

from the environment which could interact
with the hot surfaces of the operating chips. The OSRAM OSTAR - SMT is generally
In general, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors compatible with existing industrial SMT
does not recommend a wet cleaning process processing methods, so that all customary
for this kind of components as the package populating techniques can be used for
is not hermetically sealed and therefore all assembly.
kind of cleaning liquids can infiltrate the
package and cause a degradation or However the placement and rotational align-
complete damage of the LED. Ultrasonic ment of the component is process and
cleaning of LEDs is generally not recom- equipment dependent. Slightly misaligned
mended. components (less than 0,150 mm) will be
If low-residue or no-clean solder pastes are automatically self aligning during reflow due
used, PCB cleaning is not required. to the self centering effect of the symmetrical
In any case all materials and methods pad design (Figure 7).
should be tested in prior as to whether or not If the placement position is greater than
damage is associated with the component. 150µm out of center, the components should
not be reflowed as may produce electrical
shorts resulting from solder bridges.

For mounting the OSRAM OSTAR - SMT, a

standard reflow soldering process is recom-
mended, in which a typical lead-free
SnAgCu metal alloy solder is used.
Figure 8 shows the solder requirements and
temperature curve for lead-free soldering
with a maximum peak temperature of 260°C
(recommended 245°C ± 5°C).
January, 2014 Page 4 of 14 Application Note Number: AN083
 For an optimized alignment it is recom-
mended to check the profile on all new PCB
materials and designs. As a good starting
point the recommended temperature profile
of the solder-paste manufacturer can be
used.

The OSRAM OSTAR – SMT should be

prepared according to JEDEC Level 2.

For ideal mounting of OSRAM OSTAR –

SMT to the circuit board and therefore, to
assure the performance of the LED, some
aspects of the soldering process should be
taken into consideration.

Design of the solder pad

Design of the solder stencil
Selection of PCB type

Figure 7: Self alignment of the OSRAM

OSTAR – SMT during reflow solering

Figure 8: Temperature profile of the OSRAM OSTAR - SMT for lead-free reflow soldering
according JEDEC JSTD-020

January, 2014 Page 5 of 14 Application Note Number: AN083

Solder Pad the integrated heat sink should be kept as
large as possible. This serves to dissipate
Since the solder pad effectively creates the and spread the generated heat and is
direct contact between the LED and the typically covered with a layer of solder resist
circuit board, the design of the solder pad (Figure 10).
significantly contributes to the performance
of the solder connection.
The design has an influence on the adhe-
sion, the self-centering effect and heat
dissipation, for example.
In most cases it is therefore advantageous
to use the recommended solder pad, since it
is individually adapted to the properties and
conditions of the LED.
In designing the solder pad for the OSRAM
OSTAR – SMT product family, the goal was
to achieve an optimized balance between
good processability, the smallest possible
positioning tolerance and a reliable solder
connection.
In addition, however, the requirements for
good thermal management should also be
fulfilled.
In Figure 9, the general, optimized solder
pad design is shown for the OSRAM Figure 10: Recommended Copper pad
OSTAR – SMT. area for head spreading

In addition, it should be noted that the

copper surface around the heat sink must be
isolated from other solder pads to prevent
short circuits.

Solder Stencil

In the SMT process, the solder paste is

normally applied by stencil printing. The
amount to be applied as well as the quality
of the paste deposits and the entire printing
are primarily influenced and determined by
the design of the printing stencil.
In the end, this also has an influence on the
solder quality, since effects such as solder
bridges, solder spray and/or other soldering
defects are largely determined by the design
of the stencil apertures and the quality of the
Figure 9: Recommended solder pad for stencil printing (e.g. positioning, cleanliness
the OSRAM OSTAR - SMT of the stencil etc.).
The stencils and their apertures are thus
In order to fulfill the requirements for good specially laid out for the respective
thermal management with the OSRAM application.
OSTAR – SMT, the copper surface around
January, 2014 Page 6 of 14 Application Note Number: AN083
Figure 11: Dimensions of the stencil openings

Figure 11 shows the dimensions of the minimization. The proposed design of

stencil apertures for the recommended aperture enables an out-gassing of the
solder pad of the OSRAM OSTAR – SMT. solder paste during the reflow soldering and
Ideally, the apertures should be rounded regulates also the finished solder thickness.
rather than square. This prevents solder Therefore a typically solder paste coverage
from accumulating in the corners (less of 50%-70% is recommended.
adhesion) which finally leads to smearing
during printing. For the solder joint inspection the use of X-
As can be seen in Figure 11, the stencil ray equipment for radiography is usually
apertures are typically smaller than the consulted. The X-ray inspection system can
recommended solder pad. This helps to thereby detect bridges, shorts, opens, and
minimize the formation of solder bridges. solder voids.
In the industry X-ray inspection is typically
When printing with a stencil, the amount of used to define process settings and para-
solder paste is determined by the thickness meter and then to monitor the production
of the stencil. process and equipment as a process control
For the OSRAM OSTAR – SMT, a thickness and not performed as a 100-percent
of 120 µm is suitable. However the used inspection.
stencil thickness may also depend on the
other SMD components on the PCB. The amount of voids (verified by the x-ray
pattern) should be less than 25%. Whereas
this value is determined by OSRAM Opto
Voiding / Solder Joint Inspection Semiconductors as a point of decreasing
thermal performance, the limit of voiding can
For a good thermal connection of the vary for each application and depends on
OSRAM OSTAR - SMT to the circuit board it the power dissipation and the total thermal
is recommended to minimize the presence performance of the system, affected by the
of voids/bubbles in all solder joints. used PCB materials.

A total elimination is difficult, the design of

the thermal pad stencil aperture is crucial for
January, 2014 Page 7 of 14 Application Note Number: AN083
 Figure 13 shows an example and the
scheme of a well formed solder joint at the
electrical terminal of the OSRAM OSTAR –
SMT.
As the scheme shows the maximum solder
fillet height is defined as the summation of
the solder stand off and the ½ ceramic
substrate thickness (E=G+ ½H), due to the
special geometry and the different surface
plating of the castellated terminations.

PCB Type

Since power dissipations of more than

10 Watts can arise for OSRAM OSTAR –
SMT depending on the chosen operating
parameters, the heat dissipation and distri-
bution via the connected printed board and
additional cooling element is required.
The selection of appropriate materials for the
circuit board is therefore of utmost impor-
tance, also because that the total thermal
Figure 12: Example of X-ray pattern
resistance of the system should be as low as
feasible. Materials with insufficient thermal
A visual inspection of the solder joints
conductivity lead to an impairment of reliabil-
should be referenced to the IPC standard
ity or restrict operation at optimal perform-
J-STD-001D 7.6.6 since the electrical
ance, since the heat which arises cannot be
contacts are formed to castellated termina-
dissipated in sufficient quantities.
tions determined by the geometry.
The OSRAM OSTAR - SMT can be mounted
on various PCB materials depending on the
total input power, such as

FR4 / FR4 with thermal vias

Flex on Alu/Copper
Metal Core PCB (IMS-PCB)
PCB with exposed Copper
Ceramic

However when using IMS-PCB it should be

considered that the difference in the
coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE)
between the OSRAM OSTAR - SMT and the
IMS PCB creates a stress on the solder
joint.

To minimize the effect copper (Cu) is

Figure 13: Scheme of a good solder joint
therefore preferred over aluminium (Al) as
of the OSRAM OSTAR – SMT (BILD)
base plate material because of the lower
CTE.

January, 2014 Page 8 of 14 Application Note Number: AN083

For example an IMS-PCB with 150 µm In general, the warming of the OSRAM
dielectric and 1.5 mm Copper base was OSTAR - SMT arises from two sources, in
tested in combination with the OSRAM which one is due to an external cause
OSTAR – SMT. (existing ambient temperature) and the other
is due to internal processes (current-
However better results regarding heat dissi- dependent power losses).
pation and distribution can be achieved by
the use of PCBs with exposed copper, but As a result, not all operating conditions are
also combined with higher costs. appropriate or permissible for a particular
By this kind of PCB the thermal pad of the ambient temperature.
LED is directly soldered on the exposed In the data sheets, the maximum permissible
base plate so that the heat can be lead off currents for DC operation and various pulse
without any insulation from the thermal pad loads are given for different ambient tem-
through the metal layer to the cooling peratures.
element.
In this way it is enabled to operate the For all intermediate cases, the maximum
OSRAM OSTAR – SMT at higher currents operating conditions can be estimated by
respectively power ratings. interpolation of the curves.

In general the PCB design, construction and

material are essential for an optimized Transient Thermal Resistance Z*th
thermal design. Resulting therefore it is for Pulsed Operation Conditions
recommended to verify the total system
appropriate, to improve the operational The thermal characteristics for steady states
characteristics of the LED. can be described by the thermal resistance
Rth. Dynamic, pulsed processes additionally
require that the thermal capacitance of all
Thermal considerations components be taken into account.
Due to the complex interrelations and
In order to achieve reliability and best transient behavior of pulsed systems, one
performance with high-power LEDs such as usually considers the thermal state at the
the OSRAM OSTAR - SMT, an appropriate end of a pulse in order to obtain an impres-
thermal management is required. sion of the maximal change in temperature.
Basically, there is a principle limitation on To calculate the maximum junction tempera-
the maximum allowable temperature for the ture, a first approximation can be obtained
OSRAM OSTAR - SMT - the junction by:
temperature must not exceed 125°C.

Figure 14: Typical layer construction of insulated metal substrate PCB (IMS or MCPCB)

January, 2014 Page 9 of 14 Application Note Number: AN083

TJunction  TS  Z th*  PD allows the time dependent temperature
behavior to be precisely modeled and
visualized.
where As can be seen in Figures 15, the transient
PD [W] = Uf * If = Power Dissipation thermal resistance Z*th decreases at lower
Uf [V] = Forward Voltage duty cycles and at higher frequencies. When
If [A] = Forward Current designing the thermal properties, it should
TJ [°C] = Junction Temperature be determined whether an improved
TS [°C] = Solder Point Temperature performance level can be achieved by
increasing the switching frequency or
Z*th describes the transient thermal decreasing the duty cycle while maintaining
resistance dependent on the repetition rate the system parameters.
and the duty cycle.
If Z*th is multiplied by the maximum power
dissipation during the pulse, an upper Verification of the design
estimate for the junction temperature can be
obtained. Despite the existing possibilities of thermal
simulation it is recommended, to verify the
Figures 15 show the characteristics of Z*th design and/or the thermal management with
for the OSRAM OSTAR - SMT LEDs in a prototype under real conditions including
relation to the duty cycle D (D = tp/T). The all additional heat sources.
various curves in the diagram represent
different repetition rates. Thereby the solder point temperature TS of
For a more precise, detailed view of the the LED is taken as calculation basis for the
thermal behavior of the device during and determination of the junction temperature TJ.
between the pulses, one can resort to an
electro-thermal simulation of the correspond-
ing equivalent thermal circuit diagram. This

3,5

2,5
Zth* [K/W]

2
Zth*(60Hz)
1,5
Zth*(120Hz)

1 Zth*(240Hz)
Zth*(360Hz)
0,5 Zth*(1000Hz)

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Duty Cycle DC [%]
Figure 15: Transient thermal resistance Z*th for OSRAM OSTAR – SMT
Application Note Number: AN083
January, 2014 Page 10 of 14
The solder point temperature itself refers to However to get a useable result the
the device back, where also the thermal temperature gap between the solder pad
resistance of the LED is defined. temperature and the reading point has to
considered for the calculation of the junction
Since the OSRAM OSTAR - SMT is usually temperature TJ (Figure 17).
mounted on a circuit board, the solder point
temperature however cannot be directly
measured on the bottom respectively only
with higher complexity.

The simplest and most practicable solution

also for enclosed applications is a tempera-
ture measurement via a thermocouple on
the surface of the PCB (see also Application
note „Temperature Measurement with
Thermocouples“).
When using an IMS-PCB the thermocouple
has to be fixed directly alongside the Figure 16: Possible position to fix the
ceramic of the OSRAM OSTAR - SMT thermocouple on IMS-PCB
(Figure 16).

Figure 17: Temperature profile on IMS-PCB

January, 2014 Page 11 of 14 Application Note Number: AN083

Due to that a operating-related correlation Summary
factor (Rth,S - TC) has to be brought in the
evaluation. Withal the factor represented the With its high efficiency and compact
thermal resistance between the predefined dimensions, the new OSRAM OSTAR - SMT
solder point temperature of the OSRAM is not only ideal for use in projection
OSTAR – SMT and the reading point of the equipment it is also providing fresh impetus
thermocouple. for applications in the general lighting sector.

TJ  ( Rth, JS  Rth,S TC )  PHeat  TTC To operate the OSRAM OSTAR - SMT in a
particular application ensuring good thermal
connection and at the same time a high
with reliability of the solder joints, the PCB design
Rth,S-TC = 1.6K/W (for IMS-PCB) and PCB material have to be accurate
selected and adjusted.

For systems using PCB with exposed To find the best solution for specific applica-
copper however it is recommended to drill a tion OSRAM Opto Semiconductors supports
slant hole starting from the side towards the his customers during their development and
area of the thermal pad zone (Figure 18). design process.
Due to the excellent heat conduction of
these PCBs the measured temperature TTC
corresponds almost completely to the solder
pad temperature TS and can be therefore
used for the calculation of the junction
temperature TJ.

TJ  Rth, JS  PHeat  TTC

Figure 18: Solder point temperature

measurement on PCB with exposed
copper

January, 2014 Page 12 of 14 Application Note Number: AN083

Appendix

Don't forget: LED Light for you is your place to be whenever you are looking
for information or worldwide partners for your LED Lighting project.

www.ledlightforyou.com

Author: Andreas Stich, Kurt-Jürgen Lang, Rainer Huber, Stefan Morgott

ABOUT OSRAM OPTO SEMICONDUCTORS

OSRAM, Munich, Germany is one of the two leading light manufacturers in the world. Its
subsidiary, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors GmbH in Regensburg (Germany), offers its customers
solutions based on semiconductor technology for lighting, sensor and visualization applications.
Osram Opto Semiconductors has production sites in Regensburg (Germany), Penang (Malaysia)
and Wuxi (China). Its headquarters for North America is in Sunnyvale (USA), and for Asia in Hong
Kong. Osram Opto Semiconductors also has sales offices throughout the world.
For more information go to www.osram-os.com.

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INFORMATION SHOWN HEREIN. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ANY OF THESE TERMS AND
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January, 2014 Page 13 of 14 Application Note Number: AN083

OSRAM Opto Semiconductors GmbH may change the information shown herein at anytime without notice
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January, 2014 Page 14 of 14 Application Note Number: AN083