| abstract |
Disclosed is an α-SiAlON represented by the general formula: (M1)X(M2)Y(Si,Al)12(O,N)16 (wherein M1 represents one or more elements selected from the group consisting of Li, Mg, Ca, Y and lanthanide metals (except La and Ce), M2 represents one or more elements selected from Ce, Pr, Eu, Tb, Yb and Er, and 0.3 < X + Y < 1.5, 0 < Y < 0.7) which contains not less than 30 ppm and not more than 1% of fluorine as an impurity. By setting the average primary particle diameter of such an α-SiAlON to 1-10 μm, a large amount of an α-SiAlON phosphor can be stably obtained with good reproducibility. In particular, when 30-200 ppm of fluorine is contained as an impurity, the α-SiAlON exhibits excellent emission characteristics as a white phosphor. |