Novel rare-earth doped silicon-nitride based materials as promising conversion phosphors for white LEDs

Lighting world will change drastically due to the replacement of the traditional TL, PL and incandescent lamps by white LEDs. Advantageous features of white LEDs are a longer lifetime, lower energy consumption and extended possibilities for integration and miniaturisation. A white LED can be realized by combing a UV-blue LED with conversion phosphers, which partially convert the UV-blue light into yellow, green or red light, resulting in white light. An overview is presented of recent developments in the field of a novel class of conversion phosphors, viz. rare-earth doped silicon nitride materials, which have been investigated during the PhD research of Dr. Y.Q. Li