Development of phosphor single crystals for high-brightness lighting applications

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25420308
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Electronic materials/Electric materials
• Research Institution: National Institute for Materials Science
• Principal Investigator: Shimamura Kiyoshi 国立研究開発法人物質・材料研究機構, 光・電子材料ユニット, グループリーダー (90271965)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): Víllora García 国立研究開発法人 物質・材料研究機構, 光・電子材料ユニット, 主任研究員 (70566760)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 高輝度白色LED / 蛍光体 / 単結晶 / 量子効率

Outline of Final Research Achievements

For applications requiring a high-brightness, current white light emitting diodes present overheating problems, which drastically decrease their emission efficiency, color quality and lifetime. In this work, single crystal phosphors (SCPs), which are proposed as novel alternative to conventional ceramic powder phosphors (CPPs), have been investigated. This totally new approach takes advantage of the superior properties of single crystals in comparison with ceramic materials. SCPs exhibit an outstanding conversion efficiency and thermal stability up to 300℃. Furthermore, compared with encapsulated CPPs, SCPs possess a superior thermal conductivity, so that generated heat can be released efficiently. Therefore, SCPs represent the ideal, long-demanded all-inorganic phosphors for high-brightness white light sources, especially those involving the use of high-density laser-diode beams. Promising green SCP Ce:Lu3Al5O12 is demonstrated as well as yellow SCP Ce:Y3Al5O12.

Free Research Field

新奇光学単結晶の開発と単結晶成長