Light-emitting diode packages for environmental indication

Abstract

Solid-state lighting devices including light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and more particularly LED packages for environmental indication are disclosed. LED packages include one or more LED chips and reactive materials that preferentially react with environmental ingress. After sufficient reactant exposure, the reactive materials may degrade and exhibit reduced electrical conductivity. Reactive material arrangements relative to electrical connections are provided so that the one or more LED chips either turn on, turn off, or lose brightness to provide visual indication of environmental reactants. Reactive materials may form electrical shorting paths that bypass one or more LED chips until sufficient reactant exposure when the shorting paths fail and the one or more LED chips are electrically activated. Alternatively, reactive materials may form parts of electrically conductive paths for the one or more LED chips such that with sufficient reactant exposure, the electrically conductive paths fail and the one or more LED chips are electrically deactivated.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.