Process for producing fluorescent substance and fluorescent substance produced thereby

摘要

The present invention provides a fluorescent substance excellent both in quantum efficiency and in temperature characteristics, and also provides a process for producing the fluorescent substance. This fluorescent substance is an oxynitride phosphor having a low paramagnetic defect density and comprising aluminum, silicon, either or both of oxygen and nitrogen, and a metal element M, provided that the metal element M is partly replaced with an emission center element R. That phosphor can be produced by the steps of: subjecting a mixture of starting materials to heat treatment under a nitrogen atmosphere so as to obtain an intermediate fired product, and then further subjecting the intermediate fired product to heat treatment under an atmosphere of nitrogen-hydrogen mixed gas.

主权项

1. An oxynitride phosphor comprising aluminum, silicon, oxygen, nitrogen, and a metal element M selected from the group consisting of IA group elements, IIA group elements, IIIA group elements other than aluminum, IIIB group elements, rare earth elements and IVA group elements other than silicon, provided that said metal element M is partly replaced with an emission center element R selected from the group consisting of Eu, Ce, Mn, Tb, Yb, Dy, Sm, Tm, Pr, Nd, Pm, Ho, Er, Cr, Sn, Cu, Zn, As, Ag, Cd, Sb, Au, Hg, Tl, Pb, Bi and Fe;
wherein the oxynitride phosphor has a paramagnetic defect density detected at g=2.002 in an electron spin resonance measurement of less than 2×1014 spins/g, wherein the oxynitride phosphor is represented by the following formula (3):
(M′1−x3Rx3)Si10−pAl18+pOpN32−p  (3), wherein M′ is an element selected from the group consisting of IIA group metals and rare earth metals; R is the emission center element R and x3 and p are numbers satisfying the conditions of 0