I'm working on a small board that uses a CREE XP-E emitter, that features an electrically neutral thermal pad for heatsinking.
It's quite a compact board, so it would be easier to connect the thermal pad straight to the ground plane. I appreciate that if I make this connection, heat will be conducted to all components that have a ground connection. However, for optimal LED performance, I'm aiming to run the board at no more than 50C. So I don't think this is much of an issue?
With this consideration in mind, is it still a good design choice? Any other reasons you wouldn't want to do it?
It's quite a compact board, so it would be easier to connect the thermal pad straight to the ground plane. I appreciate that if I make this connection, heat will be conducted to all components that have a ground connection. However, for optimal LED performance, I'm aiming to run the board at no more than 50C. So I don't think this is much of an issue?
With this consideration in mind, is it still a good design choice? Any other reasons you wouldn't want to do it?