High-brightness Phosphor-conversion White Light Source Using InGaN Blue Laser Diode

A phosphor-conversion white light source is demonstrated using an InGaN-based blue laser diode (LD) and a yellow-emitting phosphor excited by the blue LD. The photometric and colorimetric properties of this blue-LD-based white light source are characterized. When injection current of the LD is 100 mA, luminous flux and luminous efficiency of the white light are found to be over 5 lm and 10 lm/W, respectively. When injection current is >90 mA, luminance is estimated to be larger than 10 Mcd/<TEX>cm²</TEX>. In addition, color characteristics of the white light such as chromaticity coordinates, a correlated color temperature, and a color rendering index are found to be quite stable as current and temperature of the LD varies. The demonstrated LD-based white light source is expected to be used in high-brightness illumination applications with good color stability.