Determination of the optimal amount of scattering in a wavelength conversion plate for white LEDs

Luminescent materials are widely used in white LEDs to convert part of the blue LED light into light with a longer wavelength, resulting in white light when both colors are well mixed. One way to integrate the luminescent material in the LED package is to deposit a thin luminescent layer on a planar carrier or disperse luminescent particles in the carrier material and then position the resulting wavelength conversion plate above one or more LEDs. It is very important that these wavelength conversion plates have the right properties to ensure homogeneous white light with a high efficiency and desired correlated color temperature (CCT). Key properties are the absorption and emission spectrum and the scattering and absorption coefficients. These properties strongly influence the color of the resulting light, but also the efficiency and the angular uniformity. This work describes an extensive study of the effect of the scattering and absorption coefficients in terms of the desired CCT. A computationally efficient extended Adding-Doubling method is used for the simulation of the light distribution and conversion in the planar wavelength conversion element. Ultimately an optimal combination with a high efficiency and low angular color deviation is desired. Different systems are investigated and optimal coefficients are found. With these findings a more targeted approach can be used in the manufacturing of wavelength conversion plates for white LEDs. The addition of scatterers or non-scattering luminescent particles can be used to obtain optimal scattering properties of the wavelength conversion plate.