Lighting device with spatially segregated primary and secondary emitters
View Patent ↗A lighting device includes at least one first electrically activated emitter, at least one lumiphor support element comprising a lumiphoric material spatially segregated from the first electrically activated emitter and arranged to receive at least a portion of emissions from the first electrically activated emitter, and at least one second electrically activated emitter disposed on or adjacent to the at least one lumiphor support element. First and second electrically activated emitters having different peak wavelengths may be in conductive with first and second device-scale heat sinks, respectively.
1. A lighting device comprising:
at least one first electrically activated emitter supported by a substrate or submount;
at least one lumiphor support element comprising a lumiphoric material, wherein the lumiphor support element is spatially segregated from the at least one first electrically activated emitter and the substrate or submount, and is arranged to receive at least a portion of emissions from the at least one first electrically activated emitter; and
at least one second electrically activated emitter supported by the at least one lumiphor support element.
2. The lighting device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one second electrically activated emitter is disposed proximate to a surface or edge of the lumiphor support element.
3. The lighting device of claim 2 , wherein the at least one second electrically activated emitter is arranged to direct light into at least a portion of the lumiphor support element.
4. The lighting device of claim 2 , wherein the at least one second electrically activated emitter is arranged to direct light away from the lumiphor support element.
5. The lighting device of claim 1 , wherein the lumiphor support element comprises a material having a thermal conductivity of at least 25 W/(m·° K) at about 25° C. and a transmittance of at least about 80%.
6. The lighting device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one first electrically activated emitter is not in substantial conductive thermal communication with the at least one second electrically activated emitter.
7. The lighting device of claim 1 , further comprising a first device-scale heat sink in conductive thermal communication with the at least one first electrically activated emitter, and a second device-scale heat sink in conductive thermal communication with the at least one second electrically activated emitter.
8. The lighting device of claim 7 , further comprising at least one of a thermally insulating material and a gap disposed between the first device-scale heat sink and the second device-scale heat sink.
9. The lighting device of claim 7 , wherein each of the first device-scale heat sink and the second device-scale heat sink is exposed to an ambient environment external to the lighting device.
10. The lighting device of claim 7 , wherein at least one of the first device-scale heat sink and the second device-scale heat sink comprises a material having a thermal conductivity of at least 25 W/(m·° K) at about 25° C. and a transmittance of at least about 80%.
11. The lighting device of claim 10 , wherein at least a portion of any of the first device-scale heat sink and the second device-scale heat sink is arranged to receive light emissions from at least one of: (a) the at least one first electrically activated emitter, and (b) the at least one second electrically activated emitter.
12. The lighting device of claim 1 , further comprising an optical element arranged to inhibit light emitted by the at least one second electrically activated emitter from being incident upon the at least one first electrically activated emitter.
13. The lighting device of claim 12 , wherein the optical element is selected from the group consisting of optical filters and optical reflectors.
14. The lighting device of claim 1 , wherein the lumiphor support element is spatially segregated from the substrate or submount and from the at least one first electrically activated emitter by a distance of at least about 1 mm.
15. The lighting device of claim 1 , wherein the lumiphor support element comprises an inner surface proximate to the at least one first electrically activated emitter and comprises an outer surface distal from the at least one first electrically activated emitter, wherein the at least one second electrically activated emitter is disposed on or over the outer surface of the lumiphor support element.
16. The lighting device of claim 1 , further comprising a diffuser element arranged to receive emissions from any of: (a) the at least one first electrically activated emitter, (b) the at least one second electrically activated emitter, and (c) the at least one lumiphoric material.
17. The lighting device of claim 1 , wherein each of the at least one first electrically activated emitter and the at least one second electrically activated emitter is adapted to output emissions with a peak wavelength in the visible range.
18. The lighting device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one lumiphoric material comprises a phosphor.
19. The lighting device of claim 1 , wherein the lumiphoric material is arranged to output emissions including a peak wavelength in a range of from 560 nm to 595 nm.
20. The lighting device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one first electrically activated emitter is adapted to output emissions having a first peak wavelength, and the at least one lumiphoric material is adapted to emit lumiphor emissions having a second peak wavelength that that differs from the first peak wavelength.
21. The lighting device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one first electrically activated emitter comprises a plurality of first electrically activated emitters.
22. The lighting device of claim 21 , wherein the plurality of first electrically activated emitters comprises at least two of: (a) a light emitting diode having a peak wavelength in a range of from 380 nm to 470 nm, (b) a light emitting diode having a peak wavelength in a range of from 471 nm to 499 nm, and (c) a light emitting diode having a peak wavelength in a range of from 500 nm to 560 nm.
23. The lighting device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one second electrically activated emitter comprises a plurality of second electrically activated emitters.
24. The lighting device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one second electrically activated emitter has a peak wavelength in a range of from 600 nm to 700 nm.
25. The lighting device of claim 1 , wherein the lumiphoric material is embedded or dispersed within the at least one lumiphor support element.
26. The lighting device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one first electrically activated emitter is not in conductive thermal communication with the at least one second electrically activated emitter.
27. The lighting device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one first electrically activated emitter is controllable independently of the at least one second electrically activated emitter.
28. The lighting device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one first electrically activated emitter includes an active region comprising a Group III-nitride material, and the at least one second electrically activated emitter includes an active region comprising a Group III-phosphide material.
29. A lighting device comprising:
at least one first electrically activated emitter having at least one first peak wavelength;
a first device-scale heat sink in conductive thermal communication with the at least one first electrically activated emitter;
at least one second electrically activated emitter having at least one second peak wavelength; and
a second device-scale heat sink in conductive thermal communication with the at least one second electrically activated emitter.
30. The lighting device of claim 29 , wherein the at least one first electrically activated emitter is not in conductive thermal communication with the at least one second electrically activated emitter.
31. The lighting device of claim 29 , further comprising at least one of a thermally insulating material and a gap disposed between the first device-scale heat sink and the second device-scale heat sink.
32. The lighting device of claim 29 , wherein each of the first device-scale heat sink and the second device-scale heat sink is exposed to an ambient environment external to the lighting device.
33. The lighting device of claim 29 , wherein at least one of the first device-scale heat sink and the second device-scale heat sink comprises a material having a thermal conductivity of at least 25 W/(m·° K) at about 25° C. and a transmittance of at least about 80%.
34. The lighting device of claim 33 , wherein at least a portion of at least one of the first device-scale heat sink and the second device-scale heat sink is arranged to receive emissions from at least one of: (a) the at least one first electrically activated emitter, and (b) the at least one second electrically activated emitter.
35. The lighting device of claim 29 , further comprising a diffuser element arranged to receive emissions from any of the at least one first electrically activated emitter and the at least one second electrically activated emitter.
36. The lighting device of claim 29 , further comprising a lumiphor support element that includes a lumiphoric material.
37. The lighting device of claim 29 , wherein the lumiphor support element comprises a material having a thermal conductivity of at least 25 W/(m·° K) at about 25° C. and a transmittance of at least about 80%.
38. The lighting device of claim 36 , wherein the lumiphor support element is spatially segregated from, and is arranged to receive at least a portion of emissions from, the at least one first electrically activated emitter.
39. The lighting device of claim 36 , wherein the lumiphor support element comprises an inner surface proximate to the at least one first electrically activated emitter and comprises an outer surface distal from the at least one first electrically activated emitter, wherein the at least one second electrically activated emitter is disposed on or over the outer surface of the lumiphor support element.
40. The lighting device of claim 36 , wherein the at least one second electrically activated emitter is disposed proximate to a surface or edge of the lumiphor support element.
41. The lighting device of claim 40 , wherein the at least one second electrically activated emitter is arranged to direct light into at least a portion of the lumiphor support element.
42. The lighting device of claim 40 , wherein the at least one second electrically activated emitter is arranged to direct light away from the lumiphor support element.
43. The lighting device of claim 36 , wherein the lumiphoric material is arranged to output emissions including a peak wavelength in a range of from about 560 nm to 595 nm.
44. The lighting device of claim 36 , wherein the at least one lumiphoric material comprises a phosphor.
45. The lighting device of claim 36 , wherein the lumiphoric material is embedded or dispersed within the at least one lumiphor support element.
46. The lighting device of claim 29 , further comprising an optical element arranged to inhibit light emitted by the at least one second electrically activated emitter from being incident upon the at least one first electrically activated emitter.
47. The lighting device of claim 46 , wherein the optical element is selected from the group consisting of optical filters and optical reflectors.
48. The lighting device of claim 29 , wherein the at least one first electrically activated emitter comprises a plurality of first electrically activated emitters.
49. The lighting device of claim 48 , wherein the plurality of first electrically activated emitters comprises at least two of: (a) a light emitting diode having a peak wavelength in a range of from 380 nm to 470 nm, (b) a light emitting diode having a peak wavelength in a range of from 471 nm to 499 nm, and (c) a light emitting diode having a peak wavelength in a range of from 500 nm to 560 nm.
50. The lighting device of claim 29 , wherein the at least one second electrically activated emitter comprises a plurality of second electrically activated emitters.
51. The lighting device of claim 29 , wherein the at least one second electrically activated emitter has a peak wavelength in a range of from 600 nm to 700 nm.
52. The lighting device of claim 29 , wherein the at least one first electrically activated emitter is controllable independently of the at least one second electrically activated emitter.
53. The lighting device of claim 29 , wherein the at least one first electrically activated emitter includes an active region comprising a Group III-nitride material, and the at least one second electrically activated emitter includes an active region comprising a Group III-phosphide material.
54. The lighting device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one second electrically activated emitter is supported by the at least one lumiphor element.
55. The lighting device of claim 1 , wherein the substrate or submount is non-coplanar with the at least one lumiphor support element.