Housing for an electromagnetic radiation emitting optoelectronic component, component and method of making a housing or a component

#Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §119, this application claims the benefit of German Application No. 102005047153.6, filed Sep. 30, 2005, and German Application No. 102005059524.3, filed Dec. 13, 2005. The contents of the prior applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety

#This invention relates to a housing for an optoelectronic component suitable for emitting electromagnetic radiation when operating. The invention also encompasses an electromagnetic radiation emitting component provided with such a housing and a method of making such a housing or component.

#The prior art discloses housings for electromagnetic radiation emitting optoelectronic components comprising a base body that defines a recess. The floor of this recess is provided for mounting a luminescent diode chip. The inner walls of the recess can be shaped in the manner of a reflector, so that a portion of en electromagnetic radiation emitted by the luminescent diode chip can be deflected by the inner walls into a desired solid angle of radiation. An example of a component equipped with such a housing is disclosed in U.S. Pat No. 5,040,868.

#FIGS. 1 to 3 are various schematic perspective representations of a housing according to a first exemplary embodiment;

#FIGS. 4 and 5 are various schematic perspective representations of a housing according to a second exemplary embodiment;

#FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective representation of a component according to a first exemplary embodiment and a housing according to a third exemplary embodiment,

#In the exemplary embodiments and figures, like or like-acting elements are provided with the same respective reference numerals. The elements shown and the size relationships of the elements to one another are not necessarily to be considered true to scale. Rather, individual details of the figures may be depicted as exaggeratedly large to provide a better understanding. This is true in particular of the exemplary depictions of the baffle layer.

#The housing 2 illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3 comprises a housing body 25 provided with a cavity 50. The opening of the cavity 50 has an elongated cross-sectional area, configured for example in the manner of a rectangle with rounded edges. The cavity 50 is provided to have at least one luminescent diode chip mounted in it and to be electrically conductively connected. The housing illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3 is provided for example to accommodate four or five luminescent diode chips, which are mounted, for example in a linear arrangement, on a floor of the cavity 50.

#The housing body 25 for example contains or is made of a plastic material. A thermoplastic or duroplastic plastic, for example polyphthalamide, is preferably used for this purpose. Fillers can be added to the plastic material. Suitable fillers are for example barium sulfate, anatase (a modification of TiO2) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE, for example Teflon), which are preferably added in a volume ratio of up to 50%. A further preferred volume ratio is in the range of about 5% to about 15%.