A white light source includes an ultraviolet-visible excitation light
generation unit capable of generating visible light and ultraviolet light,
and a fluorescence generation unit having a phosphor layer and being
capable of generating visible light upon excitation by the ultraviolet
light and uses, in the phosphor layer, a red light emitting phosphor
represented by the following compositional formula: (Ca.sub.1-a-b Sr.sub.a
Eu.sub.b)S:M.sub.c, wherein a, b and c satisfy the following conditions:
0.ltoreq.a<1.0, 0.ltoreq.b<0.1 and 0.ltoreq.c.ltoreq.0.1; and M is a
dopant element having absorption of excitation energy at about 350 nm to
about 500 nm. The dopant element M includes rare earth elements such as
Ce, Yb, Gd and Tm. By substituting part of Ca and/or Sr with Zn, the white
light source can exhibit further improved performances. The white light
source exhibits an increased red light component as compared with light
emitted from conventional (Y.sub.1-a-b Gd.sub.a Ce.sub.b).sub.3
(Al.sub.1-c Ga.sub.c).sub.5 O.sub.12 green light phosphors and is suitably
used in display apparatus.
