Ultra-Thin Automotive Lamps (8-12mm) Using
SmartLEDs and Total Internal Reflection (TIR) Optics
Application Note
Introduction
Over the past few years, LEDs have become
standard for European automotive interiors
and back lighting applications such as
dashboards, radios, and switches. Today,
with increased efficiencies, increased
brightness, smaller packages, and reduced
cost, LEDs are a standard light source for
CHMSL applications worldwide. With these
improved features, LED technology is finding
its way into all exterior signal lighting. The
significant advantages of LEDs versus
incandescent lamps in these applications
are as follows:
Higher Efficiency, Lower Power
Consumption
Since LEDs generate light directly in the
desired wavelength and color, they have a
much higher efficiency rate than
incandescent lamps. The external efficiency
of a red InGaAlP LED, is between 2%-10%
and can be increased up to 50% depending
on certain chip structures (i.e. ThinFilm or
Transparent Substrate) while the efficiency
of an incandescent lamp with a red filter is
about 0.2-0.5%. [2] With LEDs, you
automatically get lower power consumption,
which results in energy cost-savings.
Longer Lifetime
LEDs have a significantly longer life span
than the conventional bulbs. This is largely
in part due to the fact that LEDs are
insensitive to shock and vibration, which
results in high warranty cost. The life span of
LEDs is up to 100,000 hours whereas the
life span of an incandescent lamp (e.g. S-8
Wedge 3357) is about 400 hours. [3]
May 16, 2002 page 1 from 8
Material Cost Savings
LEDs generate less heat than incandescent
bulbs. The lamp designer must take this into
consideration with incandescent bulbs using
more expensive housing and optic materials.
With LEDs, the ambient temperature will be
far less so that less expensive plastics can
be used.
Response Time
The LEDs’ response time is within nano-
seconds. When used in automotive safety
applications such as brake or stoplights,
LEDs allow signal visibility 250ms earlier
than incandescent bulbs. Thus shortening
the necessary braking distance (7-8m less
distance when driving 110km/h), essentially
assisting to prevent accidents.
Unique Styling Concepts
LED technology enables new lamp styling
concepts and lamp dimensions. The
combination of the correct LED package and
the correct matching optics enables ultra-
thin lamp housings with a significantly higher
optical efficiency not achievable with
incandescent bulbs.
Main Section
OSRAM Opto Semiconductors' new
SmartLED is a perfect example of a point
light source. From an optical point-of-view
the ultra- thin lamps require a point light
source combined with a Total Internal
Reflection (TIR) optic. The properties and
advantages of this SMT LED will be
illustrated in this section. Next the
advantages of the high efficient TIR optic
matching to SmartLED will be explained.
The last part of this paper will reveal the
advantages of an extremely ultra thin
automotive break light application as a result RthSA : Thermal resistance solder point to
of the integration both the SMT package and ambient
TIR optics.
Figure 1 illustrates the principle of the
temperature flow from the pn-junction to the
Thermal Management of LEDs ambient environment. It also illustrates the
About 90% of the electrical energy in a red formula with single thermal resistances.
InGaAlP LED will be converted into visible
light. Because of different effects only a part
of this light energy can be coupled out of the
semiconductor chip. So a total external
efficiency of about 10% (best case 50%) can pn- Junction

be expected. [2] The remaining energy, Ambient Leadframe

Solder
which could not leave the semiconductor Point PCB
chip, will be converted into heat. The epoxy
material surrounding the semiconductor chip
has naturally thermal limitations. If the chip
exceeds the glass transition temperature of R thSA RthJS
125ºC, the epoxy material begins to soften.
Figure 1. – Temperature flow of LED
This process is reversible, so it will harden
as the chip cools down again. However,
The application specific parameter RthSA
repeating this cycle several times induces
depends on the LED mounting substrate,
mechanical stress to the device.
pad size and layout, copper layer thickness,
Consequently, these cycles can result in
air convection, heat of surrounding
epoxy cracks, lifted dies or broken wires. To
components, and many more. Whereas, the
understand this phenomenon, it will be
LED specific thermal resistance RthJS is
necessary to go more into details about the
strictly dependent on the thermal capabilities
thermal properties of an LED.
of the LED, which means mostly leadframe
All light and heat of an LED is generated in material and design layout.
the diode pn-junction, so the junction
As the applications specific thermal
temperature of the semiconductor chip is the
resistance RthSA could be the same for any
hottest part of the LED. The thermal
type of comparable LEDs, it comes down to
resistance of the total LED system describes
the better thermal package capability, which
the quality of the thermal path between the
will determine the highest permissible
chip junction and the ambient. The lower the
current and energy in the LED. As the
thermal resistance the better the heat can be
brightness intensity of an LED follows
dissipated and flow out of the package. The
directly the current through the LED, the
thermal resistance junction to ambient is
brightest result among comparable
named RthJA. The RthJA describes the total
packages will be the one with the lowest
LED application system. It can be broken
thermal resistance as this package can be
down in an LED dependent component RthJS
driven with the highest current.
and an application specific component RthSA.
[6]

RthJA = RthJS + RthSA

RthJA : Thermal resistance junction to

ambient
RthJS : Thermal resistance junction to solder
point

May 16, 2002 page 2 from 8

Micro-miniature SMT Led –
SmartLED
This paragraph will introduce a new micro-
miniature SMT LED, called SmartLED, to
achieve all the above-mentioned objectives.
[4]
Package Outlines
All dimensions are specified in mm (inch).
Figure 2. – SmartLED Package Outlines
The SmartLED in Figure 2 shows the
extremely small dimensions of the standard
SMT assembly package best known as
SCD80.
Figure 3. – SmartLED Package
Figure 3 shows the SmartLED package. The
dimensions of this micro-miniature package
are 1.7 x 0.8 x 0.65 mm. Due to the
extremely small dimensions this LED can be
treated as a point light source.
May 16, 2002
Radiation Characteristic
Figure 4. – Radiation Characteristic
The SmartLED has no special reflector and
is thus emitting in all directions. The
radiation characteristic of this device is very
close to a point light source.
Design Goals
• Extremely small package for applications
with low space requirements and special
optical requirements like TIR optics
(Package type: SCD80).
• Metal leadframe for chip mounting to
provide the lowest possible thermal
resistance and to enable the highest
permissible current in comparison to
other comparable package sizes.
• SMT components for pick & place
processes. Footprint compatible to 0603
packages. [5]
• IR Reflow soldering and wave soldering
possible.
• Molded package to reduce production
cycle times and to get best price
structure.
• Automotive reliability requirements
according to US standard AEC Q101 like
85ºC/85% relative humidity and lifetime
tests to 10,000 hours.
• Full temperature range of –40ºC to
+100ºC.
page 3 from 8
 • Availability of all conventional LED Max. Driving
Package Thermal Current in mA at Relative
colors.
Type Resistance Solder Pad Intensity
RthJS in K/W (Cathode) Difference
Temperature of at 85ºC
Maximum Permissible Current 85ºC
SCD80 290 37 est. 7.4
0603 510 5 1
70
Figure 6. – Comparison between
60 SmartLED and 0603 ChipLED in terms of
50
driving current and intensity at 85°°C
LED
Package
40
IF in mA

SCD80
603
30

20 Thermal management of SmartLED

10

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Solder Point Temperature in ºC

Figure 5. – Derating Chart SmartLED vs.

ChipLED (0603 Package)

Figure 5 illustrates the maximum current

allowable to be supplied to the SmartLED
versa the measured solder pad temperature.
The forward current of the LED and the
ambient temperature will determine the
temperature of the solder pad. Figure 6
draws a comparison between the SmartLED Figure 7a. – Temperature gradients
with metal leadframe and a 0603 ChipLED outside SmartLED package
with epoxy substrate. Both packages have
comparable dimensions. The chart shows
max. T J = 29.0 °C
clearly that the leadframe based SmartLED
is superior to the epoxy based 0603 T ref = 0 °C
ChipLED in terms of intensity at higher
temperatures. The significant difference is ∆T = 29.0 °C
that the SmartLED has a lower thermal PD = 0.1 W
resistance RthJS = 290 K/W, than the 0603
ChipLED RthJS = 510 K/W. Based on this fact RthJL = 290 K/W
the SmartLED can be driven with more
current at higher temperatures and reaches Figure 7b. – Temperature gradients
about 7.4 times brighter intensity levels. inside SmartLED package
Additionally, the SmartLED molding
Figure 7a shows the thermal distributions or
compound is capable of withstanding higher
temperature gradients on a SmartLED.
temperatures than the casting material of the
Whereas, Figure 7b shows according to the
0603 ChipLED. This enables applications for
same temperature scale the gradients inside
the SmartLED with higher operating
this package on a semiconductor chip and
temperature requirements (100ºC instead of
metal leadframe. The temperature difference
85ºC). Furthermore this guarantees a higher
for this package type between chip and
reliability for any application.
leadframe is only 29.0 °C. The heat
generated can very easily flow out of the

May 16, 2002 page 4 from 8

package. Consequently, the LED can be
driven at higher currents to achieve more
light output in comparison to a 0603
ChipLED.
Ultra thin optics
A major advantage of the SMT LEDs from
an optical standpoint is their small size - they
behave very much like a point source. This
allows for a considerable saving in the depth
and a reduction in the overall size of the
optic (if needed). If the aesthetic requirement
of the lamp demands that it has a uniformly
lit-appearance, the optics are very
challenging to design. Also, in order to
achieve a cost-effective solution, the ratio of
the area of the LEDs to the aperture area of
the lamp must be small. There are many
approaches, which attempt to resolve this
problem. They can be characterized in two
main categories:
1. Injection of light into the optic along its
length or at regular intervals in a pattern
2. Injection of light into the optic from its
ends or edges
Typically, the axis of the LEDs in the first
approach is parallel to the main axis of the
light output of the optic. In the second
approach the LEDs are typically oriented
perpendicular to the axis of the light of the
optic. There are design approaches that can
overcome these limitations. Since the
geometric considerations of the second
approach typically makes use of an optical
device with a single light-guide where the
LEDs are embedded into the device.
Although optically challenging, this approach
has the advantage of producing highly
uniform light.
In the case where the LEDs are embedded
into the ends of a linear optical light-guide,
the power requirements for the LEDs could
become a problem as the number of LEDs
that could be more than the real estate can
accommodate. Of course, this problem can
May 16, 2002 page 5 from 8
be overcome by using more powerful LEDs.
However, based on the lumen output of
commercially available LEDs, this approach
is currently limited to only a few automotive
lamp applications. To overcome this
limitation, optic designers can make use of a
number of LEDs placed on the edges of the
light-guide. This approach is used
extensively in the display industry. In some
cases the LEDs are embedded into the light-
guide, where in other approaches the LEDs
are combined with lens lets or reflector
systems such that the LEDs are not directly
in contact with the light-guide. In the display
industry there are many approaches
employed for extracting light once it is inside
the light-guide. For example, one can use
extraction features such as variable shape
and size white dots, pyramids, spheres or
other shaped objects on the back of the
light-guide. Another approach used is to
have the light-guide that is tapered in its
cross section.
Although the approaches used in the display
industry have promise for automotive lamps,
there are several optical designs from
category one above that have already been
used by the industry which are highly
efficient and cost-effective solutions. Among
the most promising of these optical solutions
that has been used is the TIR Lens.
TIR lens optics
Highly efficient collimators
> 85%
> 40%
TIR-R
Conventional LED collimator
Figure 8. – Comparison of TIR lens and
LED lens
Figure 8 illustrates the basic principle of a
TIR Lens optic.
As seen in Figure 8, the TIR lens can be
designed to capture essentially all the light
from a near point source and redirect it in a
controlled manner. A very high-efficiency
can be achieved with a package that is very
compact in depth. Most automotive
applications to date have used the TIR lens
as a collimator and combined it with an outer
thin pillow lens to achieve the required
intensity specification. In this approach, a
number of rotationally symmetric TIR lenses
are used in a linear array in conjunction with
a number of LEDs configured on a line or
arc, at regular intervals. The TIR lenses are
trimmed such that they are approximately
rectangular in shape, yet are still able to
capture and redirect the light from each
LED, thus light is collimated and completely
flashes the aperture of the pillow lens. This
approach works best when the TIR lens
array can be chosen to be the same shape
as the lamp. Where this is not possible other
variants of the TIR lens can be employed.
For example, it is possible to design non-
rotationally symmetric TIR type optics and
linearly extruded TIR optics including ones
with variable diameter along its length.
In Figure 9, we see a typical design using an
array of LEDs in conjunction with an array of
TIR lenses. This is a common configuration
for a CHMSL. The number of LEDs is
chosen to meet the flux requirement of the
CHMSL. The shape of a CHMSL dictates
the position for the LEDs and the final
design requirements of the TIR lens system.
The designer must balance the uniformity
requirements for the project with numerous
other considerations including the flux
specifications of each LED, electrical and
heat dissipation as well as the shape of
CHMSL, to name a few. In some instances
the aperture size is small compared to the
size of the ideal TIR lens. In this case the
designer often has to optimize the design
based on a final delivered cost.
May 16, 2002 page 6 from 8
Figure 9. – TIR Lens
A key problem with traditional TIR optical
designs when used with LEDs is the issue of
the non-uniformity of the output from lenses.
However, for many applications this is not an
issue. The problem originates from a
number of considerations. First LEDs
typically, are not uniform emitters and
produce a higher intensity in the on-axis
direction than in the off-axis direction where
the intensity can be 10% to 25% or less of
the maximum. Also, limitations of the
manufacturing process of TIR lenses
mandate geometric solutions that depart
from ideal shapes and therefore
performance and uniformity of the light
output from such devices is not the same as
is possible with theoretical devices. As a
consequence, traditional TIR lenses typically
produce light with alternating light and dark
rings. For automotive applications such as
the CHMSL, these limitations of the TIR
lenses have not been impediment to their
use. However, recent advances in the TIR
technology now make it possible to improve
the uniformity of TIR optics, for a wide-range
of automotive applications.
Advances in TIR lens technology
Through the use of better algorithms and the
TIR facets, which have some curved faces
(as opposed to flat faces), the alternating
dark ring problem associated with the TIR
lenses can now be virtually eliminated.
Further, through the use of custom designed
lenses for the LEDs the non-uniformity
output problem of the LED can be
overcome. By combining these two new
approaches (the two are designed at the collimated light and even be designed to
same time by the computer software), highly produce asymmetrical output on their own.
uniform output TIR lenses can be designed.
The uniformity of such devices can be better The TIR-R approach can also be used in an
than 1.5 (ratio: maximum intensity to extruded version where the cross-section of
minimum intensity) and can achieve this for the outer (TIR lens) and inner (R lens) is
near-field applications such as is in displays. constant or not constant, where one or both
This new technology works well for mass- of the optic devices is extruded. In this
produced assemblies where the special hybrid approach there is some light-pipe
miniature lenses needed to achieve a behavior from the optical system and mixing
uniform output can be molded onto the SMT occurs from skew rays on the inside and
LEDs on the board. However, several design inside surfaces of the TIR lens and/or the
approaches are possible where this surface or surfaces of the R-lens. This can
functionality can be achieved through result in an improvement of uniformity.
snapped-on optical devices. However, the Therefore this approach might have some
preferred method is to use a molded merit when the number of LEDs must be
miniature lens for each LED. kept to a minimum.

Figure 10 illustrates the new approach, Well-designed collimating TIR lenses can
called the TIR-R, where a cross section of a achieve efficiencies of 70% (transfer of flux)
special molded lens and its companion TIR or more from a near point source radiating in
lens is shown. [7] a hemisphere, typical of an LED source. In
addition, they are compact, and can be
TIR lens - mushrooms lens produced readily through mass production,
such as injection molding, and can be easily
(TIR-R in SMS nomenclature) modified to meet a wide variety of output
Applying the Simultaneous Multiple Surface
method:
specifications. The new TIR and TIR-R
Primary optics
RR zone TIR zone
! Simultaneous design of TIR and R surfaces technologies therefore are very versatile and
element ! Extended ray-bundles
! Edge-ray theorem can be used for many automotive lighting
applications.

Secondary optics
element
Light Vertical The goals to be achieved are:

Ultra thin lamp concept

Source facet
TIR facet • Avoid metallized surfaces
• Optimized the receiver´s position
• Keep optical attributes of other SMS
devices: high efficiency, simplicity,
compactness (RXI, RX, XR)

Figure 10. - TIR-R Lens

The TIR-R approach can take many

configurations and can include pillow lenses
or prismatic structures (typically on the
outside surface) as well as built-in or
separate holographic diffusers on the top
surface to redirect light in an asymmetric
pattern. This can also be achieved through
custom design of the molded lens in
combination with a TIR. In this approach the Figure 11. – Cross section through a
molded lens can be asymmetric in shape CHMSL with SmartLED and TIR Optic
and non-rotationally symmetric. TIR lenses
can also be designed to produce non- Figure 11 illustrates a cross section drawing
of a product assembly utilizing the

May 16, 2002 page 7 from 8

SmartLED and special TIR optics to achieve
ultra-thin automotive lamps. These ultra-thin
automotive lamps have various advantages
in comparison to today’s conventional
automotive lamps on top of the LED
technology itself, which have been identified
in the introduction section. Most of the
advantages result in the fact that a cutout in
the metal sheet can be eliminated, thus be
replaced by a simple depression or dent:
• The elimination of the cutout in the metal
sheet avoids additional metal pockets
around the lamp and saves costs on
metal sheet as well as it reduces
manufacturing processes.
• Punching in a metal sheet requires
several stamping tools and production
processes. These costs can be reduced
dramatically by performing simply a
depression into the metal sheet.
• The reduction of the hole also increases
the mechanical stability of the whole car,
which reduces vibration sounds and
offers more resistance in crash
accidents.
• Long CHMSLs on the trunk were always
difficult to seal to the car body and so to
prevent moisture coming into the car
trunk. The avoidance of the cutout on the
trunk will improve the tolerances of the
lamp attachment to the car body and
solve the leakage problem, which will
automatically reduce warranty issues.
• Finally, additional savings on material
and car fuel consumption can be
expected by the weight and material
reduction of the lamps.
Conclusion
The above-introduced technology about
extremely flat lamp concepts has already
been completely developed for red and
amber (yellow) lamp applications like tail,
stop, turn lamps, CHMSLs and side
markers. This technology development will
not stop today, but continue to the next
level. White lamp applications like back up
lamps, license plate lamps and headlamps
will be the next steps to take. The future for
this technology looks absolutely promising
and the vision of the fully LED equipped
vehicle will come true very soon.
Reference
All pictures about any optics were provided
by OptiLED Inc. and LPI LLC.

Author: Hubert Ott

About OSRAM Opto Semiconductors

OSRAM Opto Semiconductors GmbH, Regensburg, is a wholly owned subsidiary of OSRAM
GmbH, one of the world’s three largest lamp manufacturers, and offers its customers a range of
solutions based on semiconductor technology for lighting, sensor and visualisation applications.
The company operates facilities in Regensburg (Germany), San José (USA) and Penang
(Malaysia). Further information is available at www.osram-os.com

All information contained in this document has been checked with the greatest care. OSRAM Opto
Semiconductors GmbH can however, not be made liable for any damage that occurs in connection
with the use of these contents.

May 16, 2002 page 8 from 8