Jay wrote:
From what I've read, the bond wire that connects the semiconductor die
to the leadframe (the part you solder) can be the limiting factor on
pulse current. It has a lower thermal time constant that the chip
itself. You can smoke that little gold wire if you try to shove too
many e-'s through it at once.

Yeah. What he said.


I'm not sure what you're doing with your alternative application, but
in general, you pulse them to multiplex them for moving signs or to
lower the observed brightness (via PWM) for brightness controls.



You can also overrate them and pulse higher current for short time
periods. As you noted above, this technique definitely has its limit.
The human eye is a peak detection device for time constants greater than
about 50ms (it'll average anything shown less time than that). So, you
can drive more current, then turn it off at the right rate to get a
brighter LED without burn it up. Again, this technique has its limits.

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