The power semiconductor joining technology through sintering of copper nanoparticles is well-suited for die attachment in wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors, offering high electrical, thermal, and mechanical performances. However, sintered nanocopper will be prone to degradation resulting from corrosion in sulfur-containing corrosive environments such as offshore areas. In this study, experiments, including aging test and corrosion characterization, and simulations based on density functional theory (DFT) studies were conducted to explore the corrosion behavior and mechanism of elemental sulfur (S₈) and hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) on sintered nanocopper. The experimental results indicated that loose corrosion products were observed on the sintered nanocopper during the ageing process involving S₈, and compact layered corrosion products formed during the ageing process involving H₂S. Furthermore, similar corrosion product compositions (Cu₂O, Cu₂S, CuO, CuS, and potentially Cu₂SO₄ or CuSO₄) were observed in both the S₈- and H₂S-ageing processes. However, the S₈-ageing process exhibited more noticeable corrosion penetration. This was explained in simulations results: the unsaturated Cu sites on the oxide layer [Cu₂O(1 1 1)] of the sintered nanocopper could adsorb both H₂S and S₈, while the saturated Cu sites only exhibited the potential to adsorb S₈.

During the operation of an LED array, its thermal and optical performances are always not equal to the superposition of the individual LED's characteristics because of a significant thermal coupling effect between the arrays. Based on this, this paper proposes an electrical–photo-thermal model, with considering both junction temperature and luminous flux, to predict the both the thermal and optical performances of LED arrays operated under different currents, case temperatures, and lighting methods. The junction temperature and luminous flux of a single LED operating under different driving currents and case temperature conditions are firstly collected to establish the luminous flux response surface model of a single chip. Then it is used to predict the luminous flux of an array, whose junction temperature is predicted using both thermal coupling matrix (TCM) and numerical models. Experiments verify the luminous flux of the LED array under different operation conditions and show that the proposed electrical–photo-thermal modeling can be used to predict the thermal and optical parameters of LED arrays with 95 % accuracy. Thus, it is effective for the fast prediction of the junction temperature and luminous flux of large LED systems with array structures, i.e. intelligent automotive lightings and displays.

Y₃Al₅O₁₂:Ce³⁺ (YAG:Ce³⁺) single crystal phosphor (SCP) exhibits high internal quantum efficiency (IQE) and excellent thermal conductivity and stability. Such properties are promising in high-power laser-excited white lighting applications. However, YAG:Ce³⁺ SCP usually shows low luminous flux and color rendering index (CRI, Ra) when excited by a transmissive laser. In this study, a self-designed three-integrating sphere system was established to characerize the optical performances of YAG:Ce³⁺ SCP palates under both the reflective and transmissive 455 nm blue laser excitations. Next, its luminous and color rendering properties under transmissive laser excitation were improved by surface roughening treatment and sintering of a CaAlSiN₃:Eu²⁺ (CASN:Eu²⁺) phosphor-in-borate glass (PiBG) layer. The results revealed that: (1) When the YAG:Ce³⁺ SCP was excited by blue laser, its forward luminous flux was considerably lower than the backward one; (2) Under transmissive excitation, its luminous flux rolled up with the maximum increase rate of 109.19% when the averaged roughness (R_a) increased from 0.35 to 5.40 μm; (3) After sintering the CASN:Eu²⁺ PiBG layer on the roughening YAG:Ce³⁺ SCP, its luminous flux, CRI increased by 31.48% and 117.14%, and its color fidelity index (CFI, R_f) reached up to 82 under the transmissive 3.03 W blue laser excitation.