An irradiation unit includes a pump radiation source for the emission of pump radiation; and a conversion element for the at least partial conversion of the pump radiation to a conversion radiation. During operation of the irradiation unit, the pump radiation is incident in the form of a beam from the pump radiation source on an incidence surface of the conversion element. A first portion of the pump radiation is incident on the conversion element in a central segment of the beam and a second portion of the pump radiation is incident on the conversion element in an edge segment of the beam surrounding the central segment. The conversion element is provided in such a way that a normalized degree of conversion and/or a normalized degree of scattering is lower for the second portion of the pump radiation than for the first portion of the pump radiation.