High-Brightness White-Light Source Based on Up-Conversion Phosphors

We report the implementation of a new, high brightness, high efficiency white-light source based on up-conversion phosphors. Up-conversion materials absorb near infrared light and re-emit in red, green, and blue. It is possible to combine these colors to create a white-light source. Such a source has the same appealing characteristics as those reported for up-conversion displays: very high brightness operation without damage to the emitters, long lifetimes, and efficiencies comparable to those of existing technologies. In addition, they offer simplicity of fabrication and a variety of operating modes. Here we demonstrate a 7-lm/W D65 white light emitter yielding 2 kcd/m(2) on a simple diffuser.