u

n
c

JT

io
emper
n
ature

Cris Diane G. Datingginoo

BSECE IV
January 28, 2014

is

What
is

J
unction
Temperature?

is

Junction temperature is the

highest operating temperature
of the actual semiconductor in
an electronic device.

Junction Temperature
Versus
Ambient & Storage
Temperature

 Junction Temperature can also be

referred to as the operating temperature.
Ambient Temperature refers to the
temperature of the surrounding
environment (air) when the device is
powered.
Storage Temperature refers to the
temperature at which the device can be
safely stored when the device is not

Maximum Junction
Temperature
(sometimes abbreviatedTJMax)

is specified in a part's datasheet

and is used when calculating the
necessary
case-to-ambient
thermal resistance for a given
power dissipation.

An estimation of the chip-junction

temperature, TJ, can be obtained from
the following equation:

TJ= TA+ ( RJA PD)

where:
TA= ambient temperature for the package
( C )
RJA= junction to ambient thermal
resistance (C/W)
PD= power dissipation in package (W)

Potentially Different Ambient

Measurement Points

Application:
Calculating LED Junction Temperature in
Lighting
Applications
The maximum junction
temperature
(Tj)
attained with a given power input is
determined by 3 factors:

Ambient temperature, thermal

resistance between the LED
junction and its surroundings,
and the power dissipated by
the chip.

A simplified model of an LED lighting assembly can be

two elements in series with the total thermal resistance
being the sum of that of each element.

Rth(j-a)=Rth(j-sp)+Rth(sp-a)

o The first element is the LED package from the

junction (j) to the solder point (sp) on the
supporting substrate (Rth j-sp).
o The second element is the combination of the
thermal resistances between the solder point and

Using Cree XM-L Easy White LED as the

basis of light
For ease of calculation, let's assume an ambient temperature,
(Ta) = 23 degrees Celsius (C).
According to the product data sheet,
Forward voltage = 5.6 V
Forward current = 350 mA
Rth(j-sp) = 2.5 C/W
We need to remember that lighting fixtures comprise several LEDs
in close proximity to generate sufficient light output.
For example, we'll consider a lighting unit with six LEDs, and the
total power dissipation will be 11.76 W.

Consequently, the overall thermal resistance of the LED group in

this example is Rth j-sp/6. The total thermal resistance then
becomes:
Rth (j-a)= Rth (j-sp)/6 + Rth (sp-a)
For a lighting assembly using standard electronic and industrial
materials, and disregarding any thermal management techniques,
Rth(sp-a)is typically within the range of 15 to 25C/W.
For our example, let's take the mid-range value of 20C/W. So,
Rth(j-a)=20.4 C/W.

Therefore,
Tj= 23C + (20.4C/W x 11.76 W) =

262.9C

Thank You!