Light-emitting dies incorporating wavelength-conversion materials and related methods

1. An illumination device comprising:

a polymeric binder;

suspended within the polymeric binder, a bare-die light-emitting element having (i) a first face, (ii) a second face opposite the first face, (iii) at least one sidewall spanning the first and second faces, and (iv) disposed on the first face of the light-emitting element, at least two spaced-apart contacts each having a free terminal end; and

a frame (i) having a bottom surface, (ii) having a top surface opposite the bottom surface, (iii) having a thickness spanning the top and bottom surfaces, and (iv) defining an aperture (a) extending fully through the thickness and (b) having a sidewall, the top surface of the frame surrounding the aperture,

wherein the light-emitting element is disposed within the aperture of the frame such that (i) the second face of the light-emitting element is opposite the bottom surface of the frame, (ii) the sidewall of the aperture redirects light emitted from the light-emitting element away from the bottom surface of the frame, (iii) the free terminal ends of the contacts of the light-emitting element are (a) not covered by the polymeric binder and (b) available for electrical connection, and (iv) a bottom exposed surface of the illumination device includes at least a portion of the first face of the light-emitting element.

2. The illumination device of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric binder has a top surface disposed over the second face of the light-emitting element.

3. The illumination device of claim 1 , wherein at least portions of the contacts protrude from the polymeric binder.

4. The illumination device of claim 1 , further comprising one or more additional light-emitting elements at least partially suspended within the polymeric binder.

5. The illumination device of claim 1 , wherein the light-emitting element comprises a light-emitting diode.

6. The illumination device of claim 1 , wherein the light-emitting element comprises active semiconductor layers that are not disposed on a semiconductor substrate.

7. The illumination device of claim 1 , further comprising a reflective layer over or within at least a portion of the polymeric binder.

8. The illumination device of claim 1 , further comprising an optical element positioned to receive light from the light-emitting element.

9. The illumination device of claim 1 , further comprising a first conductive pad electrically coupled to one of the two spaced-apart contacts and disposed over at least a portion of the bottom surface of the frame.

10. The illumination device of claim 1 , further comprising an insulating layer disposed over or on at least a portion of a surface of the frame.

11. The illumination device of claim 1 , further comprising at least one of an active or passive electronic component disposed over or on the bottom surface of the frame.

12. The illumination device of claim 1 , wherein the frame comprises a semiconductor material, and further comprising at least one of an active or passive electronic component disposed within or on the semiconductor material.

13. The illumination device of claim 1 , further comprising:

suspended within the polymeric binder, a second bare-die light-emitting element having (i) a first face, (ii) a second face opposite the first face, (iii) at least one sidewall spanning the first and second faces, and (iv) disposed on the first face of the second light-emitting element, at least two spaced-apart contacts each having a free terminal end,

wherein:

the frame defines a second aperture fully through the thickness of the frame, the second aperture having a sidewall not perpendicular to the bottom surface of the frame, and

the second light-emitting element is disposed within the second aperture of the frame such that (i) the second face of the second light-emitting element is opposite the bottom surface of the frame, (ii) the sidewall of the second aperture redirects light emitted from the second light-emitting element away from the bottom surface of the frame, and (iii) the free terminal ends of the contacts of the second light-emitting element are (a) not covered by the polymeric binder and (b) available for electrical connection.

14. The illumination device of claim 1 , wherein the frame comprises at least one of a semiconductor, a plastic, a polymer, a glass, a ceramic, or a metal.

15. The illumination device of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the sidewall of the aperture is reflective to a wavelength of light emitted by the light-emitting element.

16. The illumination device of claim 1 , wherein (i) at least a portion of the polymeric binder is transparent to a wavelength of light emitted by the light-emitting element, and (ii) the polymeric binder contains therein a light-scattering material that scatters the wavelength of light emitted by the light-emitting element.

17. The illumination device of claim 1 , wherein (i) at least a portion of the polymeric binder is transparent to a wavelength of light emitted by the light-emitting element, and (ii) the polymeric binder contains therein a wavelength-conversion material for absorption of at least a portion of light emitted from the light-emitting element and emission of converted light having a different wavelength, converted light and unconverted light emitted by the light-emitting element combining to form mixed light.

18. The illumination device of claim 1 , wherein (i) the sidewall of the aperture forms an angle with the bottom surface of the frame, the angle having a value in the range of 15° to 50°, (ii) the polymeric binder extends above the frame in a direction away from the bottom surface of the frame, and (iii) a sum of the thickness of the frame and a thickness of the polymeric binder extending above the frame is in the range of 0.4 mm to 1.8 mm.

19. The illumination device of claim 2 , wherein the top surface of the polymeric binder is curved.

20. The illumination device of claim 2 , wherein the top surface of the polymeric binder is substantially flat.

21. The illumination device of claim 9 , further comprising a second conductive pad (i) electrically coupled to the other of the two spaced-apart contacts, (ii) electrically insulated from the first conductive pad, and (iii) disposed over at least a portion of the bottom surface of the frame.

22. The illumination device of claim 13 , wherein a wavelength of light emitted by the second light-emitting element is different from a wavelength of light emitted by the light-emitting element.

23. The illumination device of claim 15 , wherein the at least a portion of the sidewall of the aperture has a reflectance greater than 80% to a wavelength of light emitted by the light-emitting element.

24. The illumination device of claim 15 , wherein the at least a portion of the sidewall of the aperture is coated with a reflective coating that is reflective to a wavelength of light emitted by the light-emitting element.

25. The illumination device of claim 17 , wherein the polymeric binder comprises a plurality of discrete regions, at least one of which comprises the polymeric binder without wavelength-conversion material therein.

26. The illumination device of claim 17 , wherein at least a portion of the sidewall of the aperture is coated with a reflective coating having a reflectance greater than 80% to a wavelength of light emitted by the light-emitting element and/or the wavelength-conversion material.

27. The illumination device of claim 17 , wherein the mixed light is substantially white light.

28. The illumination device of claim 27 , wherein the substantially white light has a correlated color temperature in the range of 2000 K to 10,000 K.

29. The illumination device of claim 27 , wherein a maximum divergence of color uniformity of the substantially white light in terms of the radially averaged Δu′v′ deviation from a spatially weighted average chromaticity is less than 0.01.

30. The illumination device of claim 27 , wherein a divergence of color temperature of the substantially white light emitted from the device varies, over an angular range of 0° to 80°, no more than 0.006 in terms of Δu′v′ deviation from a spatially weighted averaged chromaticity.