Patent ID: 8206611

Claim:
A phosphor containing a crystal phase having the chemical composition expressed by the general formula [1]: (1 −a−b )(Ln′ p M II′ 1−p M III′ M IV′ N 3 ). a (M IV′ (3n+2)/4 N n O). b (AM IV′ 2 N 3 ) [1] wherein in the general formula [1], Ln′ is at least one metal element selected from the group consisting of lanthanoids, Mn, and Ti; Mn II′ represents one or more elements selected from the group consisting of divalent metal elements except the Ln′ element; M III′ represents one or more elements selected from the group consisting of trivalent metal elements; M IV′ represents one or more elements selected from the group consisting of tetravalent metal elements; A represents one or more monovalent metal elements selected from the group consisting of Li, Na, and K; p satisfies 0<p≦0.2; and a, b, and n satisfy 0≦a, 0≦b, a+b>0, 0≦n, and 0.002≦(3n+2)a/4≦0.9, and which is a mixture of a crystal phase having the chemical composition expressed by the general formula [1], a crystal phase having a crystal structure different from that of said crystal phase (hereinafter referred to as “other crystal phase”), and/or an amorphous phase, wherein the proportion of the crystal phase having the chemical composition expressed by the general formula [1] in the mixture is 20% by mass or more.