Thermoelectric cooling and/or moderation of transient thermal load using phase change material

Techniques described and illustrated herein can permit high luminous flux and/or longer lifetimes for a class of photoemissive device configurations and/or uses that generate intense highly localized, but transient heat flux. For example, certain Light Emitting Diode (LED) applications, e.g., for flash illumination, certain solid state laser configurations and other similar configurations and uses may benefit from the developed techniques. In particular, it has been discovered that by locating an amount of appropriate phase change material in close thermal proximity to such a photoemissive device, substantial generated heat fluxes may be “absorbed” into a phase transition of the phase change material. In some configurations, a thermoelectric is employed in conjunction with the phase change material. For example, the thermoelectric may at least partially define a heat transfer path from the photoemissive device to the phase change material. Similar configurations may be employed for photosensitive devices. In such configurations, the phase change material may effectively clamp one side (typically the hot side) of the thermoelectric as heat transferred across the thermoelectric is absorbed into the transition of at least some of the phase change material from a first state thereof to a second state. The thermoelectric may be transiently operated in substantial synchrony with operation of the photoemissive or photosensitive device to provide extremely high density spot cooling when and where desired.