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What is a Patent for Light-emitting device and phosphorus
Search Patent for Light-emitting device and phosphorus
1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a phosphor (fluorescent substance) which is efficiently stimulated by ultraviolet light or shorter wavelength visible light to emit light. It also refers to an apparatus for emitting light.
2. Description of Related Art
There are a variety of light emitting devices that can produce desired colours. They employ a mix of a light emitting element and phosphors to excite the light that is emitted from the element. This produces light with different wavelength than that generated by the element.
In recent years, more attention has been paid to white light-emitting devices having long life and low power consumption which are configured to produce white light by using a combination of a semiconductor light-emitting component such as the light-emitting diode (LED) or a laser diode (LD) which emits short-wavelength ultraviolet light or visible light, and phosphors that utilize the light-emitting component as an excitation light source.
Known examples of such white light-emitting devices include systems using a combination of an LED which emits ultraviolet light or short-wavelength visible light and different phosphors which are excited by ultraviolet light or short-wavelengthvisible light to emit light beams of colors such as blue and yellow, respectively (see Patent Document 1).
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application (Laid-Open) No. 2009-38348
However, the light-emitting lamps described, above, tend to have a temperature of color higher than the one produced by conventional incandescent lamps or fluorescent lamps. The whitelight emitting device above isn’t modified to provide indoor lighting in shops or houses, as well as other locations.
The invention was developed to address these circumstances and the general goal of this invention is to supply the phosphor needed in light-emitting devices for emitting warm light.
In order to solve the above problem, there is provided, a phosphor having the general formula (M.sup.2.sub.x,M.sup.3.sub.y,M.sup.4.sub.z).sub.mM.sup.1O.sub.3X.sub. (2/n- ), wherein M.sup.1 represents at least one element including at least Si andselected from the group consisting of Si, Ge, Ti, Zr, and Sn, M.sup.2 represents at least one element including at least Ca and selected from the group consisting of Ca, Mg, Cd, Co, and Zn, M.sup.3 represents at least one element including at least Srand selected from the group consisting of Sr, Ra, Ba, and Pb, X represents at least one halogen element, M.sup.4 represents at least one element including at least Eu.sup.2+ and selected from the group consisting of rare-earth elements and Mn, m is inthe range 1.ltoreq.m.ltoreq.4/3, n is in the range 5.ltoreq.n.ltoreq.7, and x, y, and z are each in such a range as to satisfy x+y+z=1, 0.45.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.0.8, 0.05.ltoreq.y.ltoreq.0.45, and 0.03.ltoreq.z.ltoreq.0.35.
This example shows that a white LED emitting the light of an incandescent color at 3200 K or less can be configured with an phosphor, a blue luminescent component.
A light-emitting device is another embodiment of the invention. The light-emitting device can be described as a light-emitting device configured to include: a light emitting element that emits ultraviolet light or short-wavelength visible light; a firstphosphor which is excited by ultraviolet light or the short-wavelength visible light to emit visible light and a second phosphor that is excited by the ultraviolet light or shorter-wavelength visible light, thereby emitting visible light with a color that is different from that of the visible light produced by the first phosphor, the light-emitting device being configured to emit a mixed-color through the mixing of light beams from each phosphor. The first phosphor has the general formula(M.sup.2.sub.x,M.sup.3.sub.y,M.sup.4.sub.z).sub.mM.sup.1O.sub.3X.sub. (2/n- ), wherein M.sup.1 represents at least one element including at least Si and selected from the group consisting of Si, Ge, Ti, Zr, and Sn, M.sup.2 represents at least one elementincluding at least Ca and selected from the group consisting of Ca, Ma, Cd, Co, and Zn, M.sup.3 represents at least one element including at least Sr and selected from the group consisting of Sr, Ra, Ba, and Pb, X represents at least one halogen element,M.sup.4 represents at least one element including at least Eu.sup.2+ and selected from the group consisting of rare-earth elements and Mn, m is in the range 1.ltoreq.m.ltoreq.4/3, n is in the range 5.ltoreq.n.ltoreq.7, and x, y, and z are each in such arange as to satisfy x+y+z=1, 0.45.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.0.8, 0.05.ltoreq.y.ltoreq.0.45, and 0.03.ltoreq.z.ltoreq.0.35.
According to this design an electronic device that emits incandescent light at 3,200 K or less could be accomplished with ease.
A light-emitting device is a different embodiment of the invention. The device that emits light is constructed to include an element of semiconductor light-emitting that emits ultraviolet light, or short-wavelength visible light a first phosphorwhich is excited by ultraviolet light or short-wavelength visible light, causing it to emit visible light and a second phosphor which is activated by ultraviolet light or the short-wavelength visible light, causing it to emit visible light with an opposite color to the visible light emitted from the first phosphor. This light-emitting device being configured to emit light having temperatures ranging from 2,800 K to 3,200 K by using the light of each phosphor.
In this way an electronic device that emits light at a low color temperature, and with less power consumption than that of conventional incandescent lamps is created.
The light-emitting device may also be set to emit light in order that an illuminance of 50 lx or greater can be set at 70 cm away from the device if a power of 1W is provided to the device. This lets high-efficiency lighting be used and a variety of applications.
Any combination of these components, along with any exchanges of expressions of invention between devices, methods and system are valid examples of the invention.
The invention provides phosphors that can be utilized in light emitting devices that emit warm light.
Click here to view the patent on USPTO website.
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