Effect of boron nitride (BN) on luminescent properties of Y ₃Al₅O₁₂: Ce phosphors and their white light-emitting diode characteristics

This article reports a low-cost yellow-emitting Y₃Al _5-xB_xO_12-xN_x:Ce³⁺ phosphor with an enhanced luminescent intensity and excellent thermal stability for white light-emitting diodes (LEDs). It was synthesized by a simple gas-pressure sintering (GPS) process. The effect of B³⁺-N ^3- incorporation on the optical properties of Y₃Al ₅O₁₂:Ce³⁺ phosphor was investigated. The addition of appropriate amounts of boron nitride (BN) leads to a marked increase in photoluminescent intensity and a slight shift of its emission spectra toward the blue region, which is assigned to the improved crystallinity and increased particle size. Especially, the prepared oxynitride phosphor does not exhibit any thermal quenching under high temperature, and the emission intensity at 250°C even increases up to 175% of that measured at 20°C. Finally, the white LED flat lamp with luminous efficiency as high as 101 lm/W, color rendering index of 72, and correlated color temperature of about 6600 K is successfully realized by using YAG:Ce³⁺ phosphor doped with 0.5 molar ratio BN, which is acceptable and promising for general indoor illuminations to replace fluorescent or incandescent lamps.