Novel rare-earth-free yellow Ca5Zn3.92In0.08(V0.99Ta0.01O4)6 phosphors for dazzling white light-emitting diodes

White light-emitting diode (WLED) products currently available on the market are based on the blue LED combined with yellow phosphor approach. However, these WLEDs are still insufficient for general illumination and flat panel display (FPD) applications because of their low color-rendering index (CRI < 75) and high correlated color temperature (CCT = 6000 K). Although near-ultraviolet (UV) LED chips provide more efficient excitation than blue chips, YAG:Ce(3+) phosphors have very weak excitation in the near-UV spectral region. Hence, there is an increasing demand for novel yellow phosphor materials with excitation in the near-UV region. In this work, we report novel self-activated yellow Ca(5)Zn(3.92)In(0.08)(V(0.99)Ta(0.01)O(4))(6) (CZIVT) phosphors that efficiently convert near-UV excitation light into yellow luminescence. The crystal structure and lattice parameters of these CZIVT phosphors are elucidated through Rietveld refinement. Through doping with In(3+) and Ta(5+) ions, the emission intensity is enhanced in the red region, and the Stokes shift is controlled to obtain good color rendition. When a near-UV LED chip is coated with a combination of CZIVT and commercial blue Ba(0.9)Eu(0.1)MgAl(10)O(17) phosphors, a pleasant WLED with a high CRI of 82.51 and a low CCT of 5231 K, which are essential for indoor illumination and FPDs, is achieved.