Highly efficient fluorescent material

[0002] The invention proceeds from a fluorescent material from the class of the silicide nitrides in accordance with the preamble of claim 1. In particular these are silicide nitrides which fluoresce in the yellow region.

[0003] Fluorescent materials of the silicide nitride type such as Sr₂Si₅N₈and Ba₂Si₅N₈, already known from the article by Schlieper, Millus and Schlick: Nitridosilicate II, Hochtemperatursynthesen and Kristallstrukturen von Sr₂Si₅N₈und Ba₂Si₅N₈[Silicide nitrides II, high-temperature syntheses and crystal structures of Sr₂Si₅N₈and Ba₂Si₅N₈], Z. anorg. allg. Chem. 621, (1995), page 1380. However, in this case no activators are specified which would suggest efficient emission in specific regions of the visible spectrum.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide a flourescent material from the class of the suicide nitrides having a cation and the basic formula A_xSi_yN_z, the efficiency of which is as high as possible, and which can be effectively stimulated by UV radiation in the region of 370 to 430 nm.

[0005] This and other objects are attained in accordance with one aspect of the invention directed to a highly efficient fluorescent material from the class of the silicide nitrides having a cation and the basic formula A_xSi_yN_z, characterized in that Sr is used as cation, the silicide nitride being doped with trivalent Ce which acts as activator.

[0006] There is as yet no yellow-emitting fluorescent material of high efficiency which can be effectively stimulated in the region around 400 nm. The well known, normally used fluorescent material YAG:Ce can admittedly be effectively stimulated below 370 m and above 430 nm, but not in the region around 400 nm. Other Ce-doped garnets also exhibit only a slight ability to be stimulated in the range of use in question. It was therefore necessary to develop a completely different system.

[0007] According to the invention, the composition of the fluorescent material is selected such that it constitutes an Sr silicide nitride that is activated with trivalent Ce. The previously unknown fluorescent material Sr₂Si₅N₈:Ce³⁺ absorbs efficiently in the near UV, in particular in the region of 370 to 430 nm, and has an efficient yellow luminescence. It is preferably activated by 1 to 10 mol % Ce (for Sr). In this case, the Sr can be replaced partially (advantageously up to at most 30 mol %) by Ba and/or Ca. A further embodiment constitutes a silicide nitride of the type SrSi₇N₁₀:Ce³⁺. In this case, too, the Sr can be replaced partially by Ba and/or Ca.

[0008] This fluorescent material is particularly well suited as a yellow component for stimulation by a primary UV radiation source such as, for example, a UV LED, or else a lamp. It is possible thereby to implement a light source emitting either in the white or yellow regions, as described similarly in WO 98/39807. A yellow-emitting light source is based on a LED primarily emitting UV radiation whose radiation is converted entirely into yellow light by a fluorescent material according to the invention.

[0009] In particular, this fluorescent material can be used in conjunction with a UV-LED (for example of the type InGaN), which generates white light by means of fluorescent materials emitting in the blue and yellow regions. Candidates for the blue component are known per se; for example, BaMgAl₁₀O₁₇Eu²⁺ (known as BAM) or Ba₅SiO₄(Cl,Br)₆Eu²⁺ or CaLA₂S₄Ce³⁺ or else (Sr,Ba,Ca)₅(PO₄)₃Cl:Eu²⁺ (known as SCAP). A red fluorescent material can be used, in addition, in order to improve the color of this system. (Y,La,Gd,Lu)₂O₂S:Eu³⁻, SrS:Eu²⁺ or else Sr₂Si₅N₈:Eu²⁺ (not yet published, see EP-A 99 123 747.0) are particularly suitable.

[0010] The aim below is to explain the invention in more detail with the aid of two exemplary embodiments. In the drawing:

[0011] FIG. 1 shows an emission spectrum of a first silicide nitride;

[0012] FIG. 2 shows the reflection spectrum of this silicide nitride;

[0013] FIG. 3 shows an emission spectrum of a second silicide nitride;

[0014] FIG. 4 shows the reflection spectrum of this silicide nitride;

[0015] FIG. 5 shows a semiconductor component which serves as light source for white light; and

[0016] FIG. 6 shows an emission spectrum of a mixture of three fluorescent materials.

[0017] A concrete example of the fluorescent material according to the invention is shown in FIG. 1, which concerns the emission of the fluorescent material, Sr₂Si₅N₈:Ce²⁺, the Ce proportion amounting to 4 mol % of the lattice sites occupied by Sr. The emission maximum is at 545 nm, and the mean wavelength at 572 nm. The color locus is x=0.395;y=0.514. The stimulation is performed at 400 nm.

[0018] The production is performed in the usual way, the starting materials Sr₃N₂, Si₃N₄and CeO₂being mixed with one another, and the mixture subsequently being baked in a furnace over 5 hours in a reducing fashion under N₂and H₂at 1400° C.

[0019] FIG. 2 shows the diffuse reflection spectrum of this fluorescent material. It exhibits a pronounced minimum in the region of 370 to 440 nm, which thereby demonstrates a good ability to be stimulated in this region.

[0020] A second example of the fluorescent material according to the invention is shown in FIG. 3, which concerns emission of the fluorescent material Sr₂Si₅N₈:Ce²⁺, the Ce proportion amounting to 8 mol % of the lattice sites occupied by Sr. The emission maximum is at 554 nm, the mean wavelength at 579 nm. The color locus is x=0.414;y=0.514.

[0021] The production is performed in the above described way, the mixture being baked in the oven over 6 hours in a reducing fashion under N₂at 1400° C.

[0022] FIG. 4 shows the diffuse reflection spectrum of this fluorescent material. It exhibits a pronounced minimum in the region of 370 to 440 nm, which therefore demonstrates a good ability to be stimulated in this region.

[0023] The design of a light source of white light is shown explicitly in FIG. 5. The light source is a semiconductor component with a chip 1 of type InGaN having a peak emission wavelength of, for example, 390 nm, which is embedded in an opaque basic housing 8 in the region of a cut-out 9. The chip 1 is connected via a bond wire 14 to a first terminal 3, and directly to a second electric terminal 2. The cut-out 9 is filled with a potting compound 5 which contains as main constituents an epoxy casting resin (80 to 90% by weight, and fluorescent pigments 6 (less than 15% by weight). A first fluorescent material is the silicide nitride presented as a first exemplary embodiment, while the second is a fluorescent material emitting in the blue region, here Ba₅SiO₄(Cl,Br)₆:Eu²⁺ in particular. The cut-out has a wall 17 which serves as reflector for the primary and secondary radiation of the chip 1 or the pigments 6. The combination of the blue and yellow secondary radiation mixes to produce white.

[0024] In a further exemplary embodiment, a mixture of three fluorescent materials is used as fluorescent pigment. A first fluorescent material (1) is the yellow-emitting silicide nitride Sr₂Si₅N₈:Ce²⁺ presented as the first exemplary embodiment, the second (2) is the blue-emitting fluorescent material of the abovementioned SCAP, and the third (3) is a red-emitting fluorescent material of type Sr₂Si₅N₈:Eu²⁺. FIG. 6 shows the emission spectrum of such an LED with primary emission at 375 nm, the individual components of yellow (1), blue (2) and red (3) adding together to form an overall spectrum (G) which conveys a white color sensation of high quality. The associated color locus is x=0.333 and y=0.331. The use of three components ensures a particularly good color rendition.