Fluorescent lighting with aluminum nitride phosphors

Title: Fluorescent lighting with aluminum nitride phosphors

A fluorescent lamp includes a glass envelope; at least two electrodes connected to the glass envelope; mercury vapor and an inert gas within the glass envelope; and a phosphor within the glass envelope, wherein the phosphor blend includes aluminum nitride. The phosphor may be a wurtzite (hexagonal) crystalline structure Al.sub.(1-x)M.sub.xN phosphor, where M may be drawn from beryllium, magnesium, calcium, strontium, barium, zinc, scandium, yttrium, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, ytterbium, bismuth, manganese, silicon, germanium, tin, boron, or gallium is synthesized to include dopants to control its luminescence under ultraviolet excitation. The disclosed Al.sub.(1-x)M.sub.xN:Mn phosphor provides bright orange-red emission, comparable in efficiency and spectrum to that of the standard orange-red phosphor used in fluorescent lighting, Y.sub.2O.sub.3:Eu. Furthermore, it offers excellent lumen maintenance in a fluorescent lamp, and does not utilize "critical rare earths," minimizing sensitivity to fluctuating market prices for the rare earth elements.

Inventors:: Cherepy, Nerine J.; Payne, Stephen A.; Seeley, Zachary M.; Srivastava, Alok M.

Issue Date:: 2016-05-10

OSTI Identifier:: 1252202

Assignee:: Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (Livermore, CA) General Electric Company (Schenectady, NY) LLNL

Patent Number(s):: 9,337,010

Application Number:: 14/840,839

Contract Number:: AC52-07NA27344

Resource Relation:: Patent File Date: 2015 Aug 31

Research Org:: Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Org:: USDOE

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE

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Other works cited in this record:

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Metselaar, R.; Reenis, R.; Chen, M.
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Low-temperature synthesis of AlN powder with multicomponent additive systems by carbothermal reduction–nitridation method
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Molisani, André Luiz; Yoshimura, Humberto Naoyuki
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Sato, Ayumu; Azumada, Kyoko; Atsumori, Toshiyuki
Journal of Crystal Growth, Vol. 298, p. 379-382
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2006.10.042

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