High-power LED: the LUXEON HL1Z

Data sheets have long been the go to source for LED specifications and are broadly used to narrow options and ultimately select an LED for a particular application. Too often, however, factors not accounted for in the data sheet significantly affect the LED’s performance in the application and, in some cases, relying on data sheet specifications alone will lead to the wrong conclusion. LUXEON HL1Z, Lumileds newest high power LED offers the perfect example.

A recent customer developing a 25 degree spot application was evaluating LUXEON HL1Z against a competitor’s offering. As shown in the table below, when mounted on a board, the competitor’s LED appeared to be the best choice in terms of output and intensity. However, when implemented in the application, LUXEON HL1Z outperformed in lumens by more than 20% and more than 40% in terms of candela (intensity).

The result is no accident but highlights the importance of understanding the end objective and the factors that may influence the outcome. LUXEON HL1Z is very small allowing tight alignment of the LEDs thereby creating a smaller light emitting area. This coupled with collection efficiency and collimating efficiency of the fixture produce a result where LUXEON HL1Z does deliver the best performance, even though at a datasheet level, performance appears lower.

Though only released in May of 2022, Lumileds released additional CCT/CRI options growing the LUXEON HL1Z portfolio to 15 options. At just 1.4mm per side and only 0.36mm high, the emitter is very small and at 4000K/80CRI and 350mA offers 133lm and 136lm/W at 350mA with excellent color over angle performance.