We investigate plasmon resonances in gold nanoparticles to enhance the quantum yield of upconverting materials. For this purpose, we use a rate equation model that describes the upconversion of trivalent erbium based upconverters. Changes of the optical field acting on the upconverter and the changes to the transition probabilities of the upconverter in the proximity of a gold nanoparticle are calculated using Mie theory and exact electrodynamic theory respectively. With this data, the influence on the luminescence of the upconverter is determined using the rate equation model. The results show that upconversion luminescence can be increased in the proximity of a spherical gold nanoparticle due to the change in the optical field and the modification of the transition rates.
We describe some fundamental properties of localized plasmon polaritons in metallic nanoparticles, and discuss their use for enhancing solar cells efficiency by photon management. Two scenarios are detailed. The first is an example of spectral photon management utilizing localized plasmon polaritons to increase the up‐conversion efficiency of ions embedded in a glass matrix comprising metallic nanoparticles. The second example details quantitatively how the strong field enhancement and the large scattering cross‐section of plasmons at the resonance wavelength can be employed directly to enhance light absorption in thin‐film solar cells. Preliminary experimental results on tailoring appropriate materials are also shown. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Photon upconversion is promising for many applications. However, the potential of lanthanide doped upconverter materials is typically limited by low absorption coefficients and low upconversion quantum yields (UCQY) under practical irradiance of the excitation. Modifying the photonic environment can strongly enhance the spontaneous emission and therefore also the upconversion luminescence. Additionally, the non-linear nature of the upconversion processes can be exploited by an increased local optical field introduced by photonic or plasmonic structures. In combination, both processes may lead to a strong enhancement of the UCQY at simultaneously lower incident irradiances. Here, we use a comprehensive 3D computation-based approach to investigate how absorption, upconversion luminescence, and UCQY of an upconverter are altered in the vicinity of spherical gold nanoparticles (GNPs). We use Mie theory and electrodynamic theory to compute the properties of GNPs. The parameters obtained in these calculations were used as input parameters in a rate equation model of the upconverter β-NaYF4: 20% Er3+. We consider different diameters of the GNP and determine the behavior of the system as a function of the incident irradiance. Whether the UCQY is increased or actually decreased depends heavily on the position of the upconverter in respect to the GNP. Whereas the upconversion luminescence enhancement reaches a maximum around a distance of 35 nm to the surface of the GNP, we observe strong quenching of the UCQY for distances <40 nm and a UCQY maximum around 125 to 150 nm, in the case of a 300 nm diameter GNP. Hence, the upconverter material needs to be placed at different positions, depending on whether absorption, upconversion luminescence, or UCQY should be maximized. At the optimum position, we determine a maximum UCQY enhancement of 117% for a 300 nm diameter GNP at a low incident irradiance of 0.01 W/cm2. As the irradiance increases, the maximum UCQY enhancement decreases to 20% at 1 W/cm2. However, this UCQY enhancement translates into a significant improvement of the UCQY from 12.0% to 14.4% absolute.
The procedure used in our previous publication [Opt. Express 20, 271, (2012)] to calculate how coupling to a spherical gold nanoparticle changes the upconversion luminescence of Er(3+) ions contained several errors. The errors are corrected here.
Investigations of optical losses induced by localized plasmons in protrusions on silver back contacts of thin-film silicon solar cells are presented. The interaction of electromagnetic waves with nanoprotrusions on flat silver layers is simulated with a three-dimensional numerical solver of Maxwell's equations. Spatial absorption profiles and spatial electric field profiles as well as the absorption inside the protrusions are calculated. The results presented here show that the absorption of irradiated light at nanorough silver layers can be strongly enhanced by localized plasmonic resonances in Ag nanoprotrusions. Especially, localized plasmons in protrusions with a radius below 60 nm induce strong absorption, which can be several times the energy irradiated on the protrusion's cross section. The localized plasmonic resonances in single protrusions on Ag layers are observed to shift to longer wavelengths with increasing refractive index of the surrounding material. At wavelengths above 500 nm localized plasmonic resonances will increase the absorption of nanorough μc-Si:H/Ag interfaces. The localized plasmon induced absorption at nanorough ZnO/Ag interfaces lies at shorter wavelengths due to the lower refractive index of ZnO. For wavelengths above 500 nm, a high reflectivity of the silver back contacts is essential for the light-trapping of thin-film silicon solar cells. Localized-plasmon induced losses at silver back contacts can explain the experimentally observed increase of the solar cell performance when applying a ZnO/Ag back contact in comparison to a μc-Si:H/Ag back contact.
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