| abstract |
A red phosphor with excellent luminescent characteristics, and a light emitting device that uses this phosphor are provided. The phosphor is a nitride phosphor that is activated by europium, and absorbs light from the near ultraviolet range to the blue range to emit red light. The nitride phosphor has the following general formula, n n M w Al x Si y B z N ((2/3)w+x+(4/3)y+z) :Eu 2+ n nwhere M is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Mg, Ca, Sr and Ba. In the general formula, w, x, y and z fall within the following ranges. 0.056 ≤ w ≤ 9 , x = 1 , 0.056 ≤ y ≤ 18 , and 0.0005 ≤ z ≤ 0.5 In addition, the mean particle diameter of the nitride phosphor is preferably not less than 2 µm and not more than 15 µm. Additionally, the light emitting device includes a light source with a first light emission spectrum that emits light from the near ultraviolet range to the blue range, and one or more kinds of phosphors that absorb at least part of the first light emission spectrum and thus emit light with a second light emission spectrum. The aforementioned phosphor can be used as the phosphors. |