Light emitting element mounting substrate, light emitting device, and light emitting module

The present invention relates to a light emitting element mounting substrate, a light emitting device, and a light emitting module.

Recently, light emitting elements such as a light emitting diode (LED), which consume smaller power and have better visibility than conventional light sources, have been employed as light sources of various light emitting devices (for example, a headlamp of automobile).

The LED element has a characteristic of light emitting amount decreasing with an increase of temperature; thus, the increase of temperature has to be suppressed by taking measures to dissipate heat. In one of the measures taken typically, a substrate with the LED element mounted is fixed on a heatsink (also referred to as “heat-dissipation member” as well) to dissipate heat generated in the LED element to the heatsink. However, use of the heatsink alone is insufficient to obtain enough heat-dissipation effect. To address this, for example, PTL 1 describes a technique for improving the heat-dissipation effect by disposing a grease layer between the substrate and the heatsink. There are needs of a light emitting element mounting substrate, a light emitting device, and a light emitting module having an improved heat-dissipation effect.

Patent Literature

PTL 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2014-120502

A light emitting element mounting substrate of the present disclosure includes a metal plate, an insulating layer, and an electrode layer on which one or more light emitting elements are mountable, stacked in this order. The metal plate includes a bottomed screw hole opened at a surface opposite to a surface in contact with the insulating layer.

A light emitting device of the present disclosure includes the light emitting element mounting substrate and one or more light emitting elements.

A light emitting module of the present disclosure includes the light emitting device, a heatsink including a through-hole in a position corresponding to the bottomed screw hole, and a bolt screwed in the bottomed screw hole and fastening the heatsink and the metal plate, or a full thread and a nut for the fastening. A heat conductivity of the bolt or the full thread and the nut is equal to or greater than a heat conductivity of the metal plate.

An object, feature, and advantage of the present disclosure will be more apparent with reference to the following detailed descriptions and drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external view schematically illustrating an example of a light emitting module according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2A is a plan view schematically illustrating an example of a light emitting element mounting substrate according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 2B is a sectional view taken along line A-A′ of the light emitting element mounting substrate in FIG. 2A .

FIG. 3A is a plan view schematically illustrating an example of the light emitting module according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3B is a sectional view taken along line B-B′ of the light emitting module in FIG. 3A .

FIG. 4A is a plan view schematically illustrating an example of a light emitting module according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 4B is a sectional view taken along line C-C′ of the light emitting module in FIG. 4A .

FIG. 5A is a plan view schematically illustrating an example of a light emitting module according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 5B is a sectional view taken along line D-D′ of the light emitting module in FIG. 5A .

FIG. 6A is a plan view schematically illustrating an example of a light emitting module according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 6B is a sectional view taken along line E-E′ of the light emitting module in FIG. 6A .

FIG. 7 is a plan view schematically illustrating an example of a light emitting module according to a fifth embodiment.

Hereinafter, a light emitting element mounting substrate, a light emitting device, and a light emitting module according to the embodiments are described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following descriptions, top and bottom are differentiated by using words such as “top” or “on”; however, this is for convenience only and is not intended to restrict top and bottom in actually using the light emitting module and the like.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is an external view schematically illustrating an example of a light emitting module according to this embodiment. The light emitting module 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 is, for example, a member in a headlight of an automobile, in which a light emitting device 30 with a light emitting element 20 such as an LED mounted is disposed on a heatsink 40 for heat dissipation, and the heatsink 40 and the light emitting device are fixed to each other with a bolt or the like (not illustrated). The heatsink 40 is a typical heatsink, and the material thereof is, for example, aluminum. The light emitting device 30 has a flat plate shape with, for example, 2 mm in length×5 mm in width or 30 mm in length×40 mm in width and about 4 to 6 mm in thickness.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a light emitting module with four light emitting elements mounted; however, in this embodiment, the number of the light emitting elements is not limited to four, and one or more light emitting elements are mounted. Illustration of a power source, wiring, and the like of the light emitting module 1 is omitted in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 2A is a plan view schematically illustrating an example of a light emitting element mounting substrate according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 2B is a sectional view taken along line A-A′ of the light emitting element mounting substrate in FIG. 2A . As illustrated in FIG. 2B , a light emitting element mounting substrate 10 has a multilayer structure including an insulating layer 12 on a metal plate 13 and an electrode layer 11 on the insulating layer 12 . A back side insulating layer 14 may be included under the metal plate 13 .

The metal plate 13 is, for example, a copper plate with a thickness of 3 mm and 5 mm, inclusive, and includes a screw hole 13 a with internal threads (for example, φ=3 mm) to be screwed with a later-described bolt (or full thread).

The insulating layer 12 is made of, for example, silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ) with 0.1 mm in thickness or aluminum nitride (AlN) with 0.3 mm in thickness. The material of the insulating layer 12 may be aluminum nitride. The back side insulating layer 14 may be disposed for preventing warp of the substrate 10 . The material and thickness of the back side insulating layer 14 may be the same as those of the insulating layer 12 .

The electrode layer 11 includes a positive electrode 11 a and a negative electrode 11 b and is disposed with a pattern of copper or gold with, for example, 1 μm to 100 μm in thickness. The light emitting element is mounted on the electrode layer 11 .

According to the light emitting element mounting substrate 10 , it is possible to more reliably transfer heat generated in the light emitting element to the outside through the bolt or the like screwed in the screw hole 13 a of the metal plate 13 .

FIG. 3A is a plan view schematically illustrating an example of the light emitting module according to this embodiment, and FIG. 3B is a sectional view taken along line B-B′ of the light emitting module in FIG. 3A . As illustrated in FIG. 3B , in the light emitting module 1 , light emitting elements 20 a to 20 d are mounted on the light emitting element mounting substrate 10 , and the light emitting element mounting substrate (more specifically, metal plate 13 ) and the heatsink 40 are fastened to each other by a bolt 50 . A grease layer 60 may be included between the light emitting element mounting substrate 10 and the heatsink 40 .

The member fastening the metal plate 13 and the heatsink 40 is not limited to the bolt and may be “a full thread and a nut” functioning like the bolt.

In a transparent plan view as illustrated in FIG. 3A , when the center of the region in which the multiple light emitting elements 20 a to 20 d are mounted in the electrode layer 11 and the center of the bolt 50 coincide with each other, a light emitting module with an improved heat-dissipation effect is achieved with a balanced heat-dissipation.

As indicated by arrows in FIG. 3B , heat generated in the light emitting elements 20 a to 20 d passes through the electrode layer 11 , the insulating layer 12 , the metal plate 13 , and the bolt 50 to be transferred to the heatsink 40 . When the heat conductivity of the metal plate 13 and the heat conductivity of the bolt 50 (or the full thread and the nut) are equal to each other, or when the heat conductivity of the metal plate 13 is smaller than the heat conductivity of the bolt 50 , high heat-dissipation effect is realized. In the above-described example, the material of both the metal plate 13 and the bolt 50 (or the full thread and the nut) may be copper.

A depth b of the screw hole 13 a and a thickness a of the metal plate 13 illustrated in FIG. 2B may have the following relationships:

0.3 a≤b≤ 0.9 a   (1); and

0.5 a≤b≤ 0.9 a   (2).

The above relationships may be determined based on the balance between the heat-dissipation efficiency and the intensity of the metal plate (consequently the intensity of the light emitting element mounting substrate).

With the above-described light emitting module configuration, it is possible to more reliably transfer heat generated in the light emitting element to the heatsink through the metal plate and bolt.

Second Embodiment

In the light emitting module 1 according to the first embodiment, a gap of an air layer (hereinafter referred to as “gap”) 15 is formed between a tip end of the bolt 50 screwed in the screw hole 13 a of the metal plate 13 and a deepest portion 13 b of the screw hole 13 a (hereinafter referred to as “deepest portion of screw hole”) facing the tip end of the bolt 50 , and the heat-dissipation effect is reduced in this portion. Thus, in a second embodiment, a metal joint is disposed in the gap 15 to suppress reduction of the heat-dissipation effect in the gap 15 .

FIG. 4A is a plan view schematically illustrating a light emitting module according to the second embodiment, and FIG. 4B is a sectional view taken along line C-C′ of the light emitting module in FIG. 4A .

As illustrated in FIG. 4B , a metal joint 70 a is disposed in the gap 15 formed by the deepest portion 13 b of the metal plate 13 and a tip end 50 a of the bolt 50 .

The metal joint 70 a may have (A) a hardness less than a hardness of the metal plate 13 , or (B) a heat conductivity equal to or greater than a heat conductivity of the metal plate 13 . There may be disposed a metal joint having (C) a hardness less than a hardness of the metal plate 13 and a heat conductivity equal to or greater than a heat conductivity of the metal plate 13 .

Specifically, for example, according to the values in Table 1, when the material of the metal plate 13 is copper, the material of the metal joint 70 a may be silver, gold, aluminum, solder, or the like for the example of (A). The material of the metal joint 70 a may be silver or the like for the example of (B). The material of the metal joint 70 a may be silver or the like for the example of (C). Thus, when the material of the metal plate 13 is copper, the material of the metal joint 70 a may be silver.

As described above, since the reduction of the heat-dissipation effect in the gap 15 is suppressed by disposing the metal joint 70 a in the gap 15 , it is possible to reliably transfer the heat generated in the light emitting elements 20 a to 20 d to the bolt 50 and the like through the metal plate 13 .

Third Embodiment

This embodiment presents an example in which the same object as the second embodiment is achieved while a metal joint is disposed differently from the second embodiment. FIG. 5A is a plan view schematically illustrating a light emitting module according to this embodiment, and FIG. 5B is a sectional view taken along line D-D′ of the light emitting module in FIG. 5A .

As illustrated in FIG. 5B , a metal joint 70 b is disposed over an inner surface of the screw hole 13 a of the metal plate 13 so as to surround the external thread of the bolt 50 . The metal joint 70 b is disposed to surround the entire inner surface of the screw hole 13 a of the metal plate 13 , and the gap 15 formed by the screw hole 13 a of the metal plate 13 and the external thread of the bolt 50 is filled with the metal joint 70 b . Accordingly, the heat generated in the light emitting elements 20 a to 20 d is reliably transferred to the bolt 50 through the metal plate 13 . The material of the metal joint 70 b in this embodiment may be determined similarly to determining the material of the metal joint 70 a in the second embodiment.

Fourth Embodiment

This embodiment presents an example in which a metal joint is disposed to improve the heat-dissipation effect compared to the metal joint in the second embodiment. FIG. 6A is a plan view schematically illustrating a light emitting module according to a fourth embodiment, and FIG. 6B is a sectional view taken along line E-E′ of the light emitting module in FIG. 6A .

As illustrated in FIG. 6B , small holes 13 c are formed in portions deeper than the deepest portion 13 b of the metal plate 13 , and these small holes 13 c are filled with a metal joint 70 c to increase the surface area in which the metal plate 13 and the metal joint contact with each other. Accordingly, the heat generated in the light emitting elements 20 a to 20 d is more reliably transferred to the bolt 50 through the metal plate 13 . The material of the metal joint 70 c in this embodiment may be determined similarly to determining the material of the metal joint 70 a in the second embodiment.

Fifth Embodiment

FIG. 7 is a plan view schematically illustrating a light emitting element mounted according to this embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 7 , the multiple light emitting elements 20 a to 20 d may be disposed in a grid pattern on the electrode layer including a positive electrode 11 c and a negative electrode 11 d . In this embodiment also, in the transparent plan view, the center of the region in which the multiple light emitting elements 20 a to 20 d are mounted in the electrode layer 11 and the center of the bolt 50 coincide with each other. Accordingly, a light emitting module with an improved heat-dissipation effect is achieved with a balanced heat dissipation.

The present disclosure can be implemented in other various aspects without departing from its sprit or the main feature. Thus, the above-described embodiments are merely examples at all respects, and the scope of the present disclosure is described in the claims and is never limited by the descriptions in the specification. All modifications and variations depending from the scope of claims are within the scope of the present disclosure.

1 , 1 a , 1 b , 1 c , 1 d light emitting module

10 light emitting element mounting substrate

11 electrode layer

11 a , 11 c positive electrode

11 b , 11 d negative electrode

12 insulating layer

13 metal plate

13 a screw hole

13 b deepest portion

13 c small hole

14 back side insulating layer

15 gap

20 light emitting element

20 a , 20 b , 20 c , 20 d light emitting element

30 light emitting device

40 heatsink

50 bolt

50 a tip end of bolt 50

60 grease layer

70 a , 70 b , 70 c metal joint