White Light Emitting Diodes for Illumination

There is provided white light illumination system including a radiation source, a first luminescent material having a peak emission wavelength of about 575 to about 620 nm, a second luminescent material having a peak emission wavelength of about 495 to about 550 nm, which is different from the first luminescent material and a third luminescent material having a peak emission wavelength of about 420 to about 480 nm, which is different from the first and second luminescent materials. The LED may be a UV LED and the luminescent materials may be a blend of three phosphors. A human observer perceives the combination of the blue, green and red phosphor emissions as white light.