Red line emitting phosphors for use in led applications

1. A lighting apparatus for emitting white light comprising:

a semiconductor light source; and

a phosphor material radiationally coupled to the light source, wherein said phosphor material comprises at least one phosphor selected from the group consisting of:

(A) A 2 [MF 5 ]:Mn 4+ , where A is selected from Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, NH 4 , and combinations thereof; and where M is selected from Al, Ga, In, or combinations thereof;

(B) A 3 [MF 6 ]:Mn 4+ , where A is selected from Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, NH 4 , and combinations thereof and where M is selected from Al, Ga, In, or combinations thereof;

(C) Zn 2 [MF 7 ]:Mn 4+ where M is selected from Al, Ga, In, or combinations thereof; and

(D) A[In 2 F 7 ]:Mn 4+ where A is selected from Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, NH 4 , or combinations thereof.

2. The lighting apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the light source is a semiconductor light emitting diode (LED) emitting radiation having a wavelength in the range of from about 370 to about 500 nm.

3. The lighting apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said semiconductor light source comprises a nitride compound semiconductor represented by the formula In i Ga j Al k N, where 0≦i; 0≦j, 0≦k, and i+j+k=1.

4. The lighting apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the light source is an organic emissive structure.

5. The lighting apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the phosphor material is coated on the surface of the light source.

6. The lighting apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an encapsulant surrounding the light source and the phosphor material.

7. The lighting apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the phosphor material is dispersed in the encapsulant.

8. The lighting apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a reflector cup.

9. The lighting apparatus of claim 1 , wherein said phosphor material further comprises one or more additional phosphors.

10. The lighting apparatus of claim 9 , wherein said one or more additional phosphors has an emission maximum in the range of 430 to 500 nm.

11. The lighting apparatus of claim 9 , wherein said one or more additional phosphors has an emission maximum in the range of 500 to 610 nm.

12. The lighting apparatus of claim 11 , wherein said one or more additional phosphors is one or more of a garnet activated with Ce 3+ or an alkaline earth orthosilicate activated with Eu 2+ .

13. The lighting apparatus of claim 9 , wherein said one or more additional phosphors are selected from the group including: (Ba,Sr,Ca) 5 (PO 4 ) 3 (Cl,F,Br,OH):Eu 2+ ,Mn 2+ ; (Ba,Sr,Ca)BPO 5 :Eu 2+ ,Mn 2+ ; (Sr,Ca) 10 (PO 4 ) 6 *vB 2 O 3 :Eu 2+ (wherein 0<v≦1); Sr 2 Si 3 O 8 *2SrCl 2 :Eu 2+ ; (Ca,Sr,Ba) 3 MgSi 2 O 8 :Eu 2+ ,Mn 2+ ; BaAl 8 O 13 :Eu 2+ ; 2SrO*0.84P 2 O 5 *0.16B 2 O 3 :Eu 2+ ; (Ba,Sr,Ca)MgAl 10 O 17 :Eu 2+ ,Mn 2+ ; (Ba,Sr,Ca)Al 2 O 4 :Eu 2+ ; (Y,Gd,Lu,Sc,La)BO 3 :Ce 3+ ,Tb 3+ ; ZnS:Cu + ,Cl − ; ZnS:Cu 3+ ,Al 3+ ; ZnS:Ag + ,Cl − ; ZnS:Ag + ,Al 3+ ; (Ba,Sr,Ca) 2 Si 1− O 4−2 :Eu 2+ (wherein 0≦ ≦0.2); (Ba,Sr,Ca) 2 (Mg,Zn)Si 2 O 7 :Eu 2+ ; (Sr,Ca,Ba)(Al,Ga,In) 2 S 4 :Eu 2+ ; (Y,Gd,Tb,La,Sm,Pr,Lu) 3 (Al,Ga) 5−α O 12−3/2α :Ce 3+ (wherein 0≦α≦0.5); (Ca,Sr) 8 (Mg,Zn)(SiO 4 ) 4 Cl 2 :Eu 2+ ,Mn 2+ ; Na 2 Gd 2 B 2 O 7 :Ce 3+ ,Tb 3+ ; (Sr,Ca,Ba,Mg,Zn) 2 P 2 O 7 :Eu 2+ ,Mn 2+ ; (Gd,Y,Lu,La) 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ ,Bi 3+ ; (Gd,Y,Lu,La) 2 O 2 :Eu 3+ ,Bi 3+ ; (Gd,Y,Lu,La)VO 4 :Eu 3+ ,Bi 3+ , (Ca,Sr)S:Eu 2+ ,Ce 3+ ; SrY 2 S 4 :Eu 2+ ; CaLa 2 S 4 :Ce 3+ ; (Ba,Sr,Ca)MgP 2 O 7 :Eu 2+ ,Mn 2+ ; (Y,Lu) 2 WO 6 :Eu 3+ ,Mo 6+ ; (Ba,Sr,Ca) β Si γ N μ :Eu 2+ (wherein 2β+4γ=3μ); Ca 3 (SiO 4 )Cl 2 :Eu 2+ ; (Lu,Sc,Y,Tb) 2−u−v Ce v Ca 1+u Li w Mg z−w P w (Si,Ge) 3−w O 12−u/2 (where −0.5≦u≦1, 0<v≦0.1, and 0≦w≦0.2); (Y,Lu,Gd) 2−φ Ca φ Si 4 N 6+φ :C 1−φ :Ce 3+ , (wherein 0≦φ≦0.5); (Lu,Ca,Li,Mg,Y)alpha-SiAlON doped with Eu 2+ and/or Ce 3+ ; (Ca,Sr,Ba)SiO 2 N 2 :Eu 2+ ,Ce 3+ ; 3.5MgO*0.5MgF 2 *GeO 2 :Mn 4+ ; Ca 1−c−1 Ce c Eu f Al 1+c Si 1−c N 3 , (where 0<c≦0.2, 0<f≦0.2); Ca 1−h−r Ce h Eu r Al 1−h (Mg,Zn) h SiN 3 , (where 0<h≦0.2, 0≦r≦0.2); Ca 1−2s−t Ce s (Li,Na) s Eu t AlSiN 3 , (where 0≦s≦0.2, 0≦f≦0.2, s+t>0); and Ca 1−σ−χ−φ Ce σ (Li,Na) χ Eu φ Al 1+σ+χ Si 1−σ+χ N 3 , (where 0≦σ≦0.2, 0<χ≦0.4, 0≦φ≦0.2).

14. The lighting apparatus of claim 9 , where said lighting apparatus produces white light.

15. The lighting apparatus of claim 14 , where said white light has a car of less than 4500K.

16. The lighting apparatus of claim 14 , where said white light has a general CRI (R a ) greater than 80.

17. The lighting apparatus of claim 14 , where said white light has a general CRI greater than 90.

18. The lighting apparatus of claim 14 , where said white light has a LER greater than 330 lm/W opt .

19. The lighting apparatus of claim 14 , where said white light has a color point lying on or substantially on the Planckian locus.

20. The lighting apparatus of claim 19 , where a color point of said white light is within 0.01 from the Planckian locus in the vertical direction on the CIE 1931 chromaticity diagram.

21. A phosphor material comprising at least one phosphor selected from the group consisting of:

(A) A 2 [MF 5 ]:Mn 4+ , where A is selected from Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, NH 4 , and combinations thereof; and where M is selected from Al, Ga, In, or combinations thereof;

(B) A 3 [MF 6 ]:Mn 4+ , where A is selected from Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, NH 4 , and combinations thereof; and where M is selected from Al, Ga, In, or combinations thereof;

(C) Zn 2 [MF 7 ]:Mn 4+ , where M is selected from Al, Ga, In, or combinations thereof; and

(D) A[In 2 F 7 ]:Mn 4+ where A is selected from Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, NH 4 , or combinations thereof.

22. A phosphor blend comprising at least one phosphor material selected from the group consisting of (A)-(D), and at least one additional phosphor:

(A) A 2 [MF 5 ]:Mn 4+ , where A is selected from Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, NH 4 , and combinations thereof; and where M is selected from Al, Ga, In, or combinations thereof;

(B) A 3 [MF 6 ]:Mn 4′ , where A is selected from Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, NH 4 , and combinations thereof; and where M is selected from Al, Ga, In, or combinations thereof;

(C) Zn 2 [MF 7 ]:Mn 4+ , where M is selected from Al, Ga, In, or combinations thereof; and

(D) A[In 2 F 7 ]:Mn 4+ where A is selected from Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, NH 4 , or combinations thereof.

23. A backlight device comprising a red line-emitting complex fluoride phosphor material activated with Mn 4+ having a peak emission wavelength between 610 and 650 nm; a green emitting phosphor having a peak emission wavelength between 510 and 550 nm; and either a) a blue LED chip having a peak emission wavelength between 440 and 480 nm, or b) a blue emitting phosphor having a peak emission wavelength between 440 and 480 nm and a violet to near-UV emitting LED chip having a peak emission wavelength from about 370 nm to about 440 nm.

24. The backlight device according to claim 23 , wherein said phosphor material activated with Mn 4+ comprises a complex fluoride with coordination number of 6.

25. The backlight device according to claim 24 , wherein said phosphor material activated with Mn 4+ comprises A 2 [MF 6 ]:Mn 4+ , where A is selected from Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, NH 4 , or combinations thereof; and where M is selected from Ge, Si, Sn, Ti, Zr, or combinations thereof.

26. The backlight device according to claim 23 , wherein said device has a CCT greater than 5000K and an LER greater than 280 lm/W opt .

27. The backlight emitting device according to claim 23 , wherein said green emitting phosphor comprises an alkaline earth thiogallate, thioaluminate or a solid solution thereof activated with Eu 2+ .

28. The backlight emitting device according to claim 27 , wherein said green emitting phosphor comprises strontium thiogallate activated with Eu 2+ .

29. The backlight device according to claim 23 , wherein said device has a gamut greater than 70% that of the NTSC in the CIE 1931 x, y diagram.

30. The backlight device according to claim 23 , wherein said device has a gamut greater than 90% that of the NTSC in the CIE 1931 x, y diagram.