High-efficient near-infrared quantum cutting based on broadband absorption in Eu2+–Yb3+ co-doped glass for photovoltaic applications

Abstract

We report that Eu 2? -Yb 3? system with high luminescent quantum efficiency and broadband excitation could be playing a significant role in solar cells. This borosilicate glass used as conversion layer can efficiently minimize the energy loss of thermalization. The cooperative energy transfer between Eu 2? and Yb 3? realized the emission of greenish and near-infrared light simultaneously with the blue light of xenon lamp excitation. The emission peaks located at 980 nm and 1,030 nm are the characteristic emission of Yb 3? with the energy matches well with the bandgap of silicon solar cells. The luminescent quantum efficiency is up to 163.5 % with the radiation rate being considered. Given the broad excitation band, high quantum efficiency and excellent mechanical, thermal and chemical stability, this system can be useful as downconversion layer for solar cells.

Luminescence of rare-earth ions and intrinsic defects in Gd2O3matrix

“…The trivalent lanthanides are characterized by narrow emission lines originating from 4f intraconfiguration transitions while the divalent rareearth ions (for example, Eu 2+ ) show broad 5d-4f luminescence but in another spectrum region [12,13]. It is most likely that the nature of this band is associated with intrinsic defects of Gd2O3 lattice acting as optically active centers.…”

Down shifting and quantum cutting from Eu3+, Yb3+ co-doped Ca12Al14O33 phosphor: a dual mode emitting material

“…There are various combinations of rare earth ions such as Tb 3+ -Yb 3+ , Tm 3+ -Yb 3+ , Eu 2+ -Yb 3+ , Nd 3+ -Yb 3+ , etc., co-doped in different uoride and oxide host materials, which show QC phenomenon to enhance the efficiency of solar cell. 8,10,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27] The QC mechanism in Eu 3+ -Yb 3+ combination is reported very little. 28,29 There is no other report seen for the QC mechanisms from Eu 3+ -Yb 3+ pair in Ca 12 Al 14 O 33 phosphor, which motivated us to design the experiment and study the QC in this combination.…”

Efficient near-infrared downconversion and energy transfer mechanism in Tb^4+-Yb^3+ co-doped NaYF_4 nanoparticles

“…RE 3+ -Yb 3+ (RE = Tb, Ho, and Pr) couple have been demonstrated with optical spectroscopy for NIR DC in various hosts [2,6,9]. However, these DC materials are still far from practical application, because the absorption of the sensitizer RE 3+ ion arisen from the parity-forbidden 4ƒ-4ƒ transitions are naturally weak in intensity, narrow in bandwidth, and usually give emission in UV-Vis region [11]. In this article, we report an efficient NIR DC luminescence between Tb 4+ -Yb 3+ couple, which is observed for the first time to our knowledge.…”