Emerging ultra-narrow-band cyan-emitting phosphor for white LEDs with enhanced color rendition

Phosphor-converted white LEDs rely on combining a blue-emitting InGaN chip with yellow and red-emitting luminescent materials. The discovery of cyan-emitting (470–500 nm) phosphors is a challenge to compensate for the spectral gap and produce full-spectrum white light. Na 0.5 K 0.5 Li 3 SiO 4 :Eu 2+ (NKLSO:Eu 2+ ) phosphor was developed with impressive properties, providing cyan emission at 486 nm with a narrow full width at half maximum (FWHM) of only 20.7 nm, and good thermal stability with an integrated emission loss of only 7% at 150 °C. The ultra-narrow-band cyan emission results from the high-symmetry cation sites, leading to almost ideal cubic coordination for UCr 4 C 4 -type compounds. NKLSO:Eu 2+ phosphor allows the valley between the blue and yellow emission peaks in the white LED device to be filled, and the color-rendering index can be enhanced from 86 to 95.2, suggesting great applications in full-spectrum white LEDs.