Patent ID: 8865022

Claim:
Phosphor particles in the form of spherical polycrystalline secondary particles consisting of a multiplicity of primary particles, at least one particle of said primary particles consisting of a garnet phase having the compositional formula (1): (A x B y C z ) 3 C 5 O 12 (1) wherein A is at least one rare earth element selected from the group consisting of Y, Gd, and Lu, B is at least one rare earth element selected from the group consisting of Ce, Nd, and Tb, C is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Al and Ga, and x, y and z are positive numbers in the range: 0.002<y≦0.2, 0<z≦2/3, and x+y+z=1, said secondary particles having an average particle size of 5 to 50 μm, the garnet phase having the compositional formula (1) included in the phosphor particles being a major phase among crystal phases in the phosphor particles.