White LEDs and the Illumination breakthrough[edit]

The attainment of high efficiency in blue LEDs was quickly followed by the development of the
first white LED. In this device a Y
3Al
5O
12:Ce (known as "YAG") phosphor coating on the emitter absorbs some of the blue emission and

produces yellow light through fluorescence. The combination of that yellow with remaining blue light
appears white to the eye. However, using different phosphors (fluorescent materials) it also became
possible to instead produce green and red light through fluorescence. The resulting mixture of red,
green and blue is not only perceived by humans as white light but is superior for illumination in terms
of color rendering, whereas one cannot appreciate the color of red or green objects illuminated only
by the yellow (and remaining blue) wavelengths from the YAG phosphor.