Thermal management is critical to LED performance because the lifetime is a function of junction temperature. Rudi Hechfellner, applications manager for Philips Lumileds Lighting, says that thermal management is by far the most critical aspect of LED system design. Manufacturers are addressing this challenge by devising improved heat sink designs, high efficiency circuit boards, enclosures with high thermal conductivity, and other advanced thermics techniques.
Thermal simulation is playing an increasingly important role through its ability to evaluate various alternatives and optimize the system-level design from a thermal standpoint prior to the prototype phase.