All mechanical characteristics are typical for a 5mm water clear lens LED.
Electrical characteristics are as follows: Maximum ratings at Ta = 25 degrees C 2500 mcd DC Forward current: 100mA Peak Forward Current (1/10 duty cycle@ 1kHz): 30mA LED Junction Temperature: 125 degrees C Reverse Voltage: 5V Operating Temperature Range: -40C to +85C Storage Temperature Range: -30C to +100C Electrostatic Discharge Threshold: 1000V Electrostatic Discharge Classification: Class 1
The relationship between voltage and current in an LED is very much non-linear (it’s exponential) so it’s best to think of them as current operated devices. Typically the LED will be driven from a voltage source with a current limiting resistor. If driven by a constant source like this, the maximum current you want to put through it is 30 mA. Any more than this can cause the LED to become a DED (dark emitting diode, a somewhat humerous term used to describe a burnt out LED).
It is also quite common to drive an LED using short pulses. The idea behind this is that the eye thinks the LED is brighter than it really is, but you don’t use up any more current. If you do this, then you can drive it with a short pulse of 100 mA, but basically your square wave (running at 1 kHz) has to be “on” for 1/10th of the cycle and “off” for the remainder of the cycle.
2500 mcd is the brightness of the LED when driven at its maximum specs (30 mA) and an ambient temperature of 25 deg C.
It is guaranteed not to be damaged if you keep its temperature between -30 and +100 deg C if it’s just sitting in a box somewhere, and betwen -40 and +85 if it’s actually in a device being operated.
If you reverse bias a diode it does not conduct electricity (that’s how a diode works, it passes electricity in one direction but not the other). However, if you put too high of a reverse voltage across it, it can conduct, and will probably damage the diode. In this case, the maximum voltage you can reverse bias it with is 5 volts. Any esd discharge above 1000 volts could damage the diode.
Mechanically, it’s the same size and shape as your average industry standard common 5 mm LED.