Near-infrared quantum cutting in YPO4:Yb3+, Tm3+ via cooperative energy transfer

Abstract

The experimental evidences of the cooperative energy transfer from Tm3+ to Yb3+ have been presented by the photoluminescence properties of YPO4:Yb3+, Tm3+, and the decay lifetime curves of the G14 emission of Tm3+. Near-infrared quantum cutting involving the F25/2→F27/2 emission of Yb3+ (about 970–1010 nm) is achieved upon the excitation of G14 energy level of Tm3+ at 474 nm. Quantum efficiency related to Yb3+ concentration is calculated, and the maximum efficiency reaches 172.8%. Because the energy of Yb3+ transition is matched with the band gap of the crystalline Si, the phosphors could be applied potentially in silicon-based solar cells.

Broadband downconversion based near-infrared quantum cutting via cooperative energy transfer in YNbO4:Bi3+, Yb3+ phosphor

“…Via CET, two NIR photons at 980 nm from the emission of Yb 3+ can be obtained by the excitation of one Tb 3+ ion with one blue photon. Since then, a similar NIR QC phenomenon has been extensively reported in RE codoped systems such as Tb 3+ -Yb 3+ [14,15], Tm 3+ -Yb 3+ [16], and Pr 3+ -Yb 3+ [17]. The single emission around 1000 nm of the Yb 3+ ion matches well with the band gap of c-Si, so it is a good choice to realize the conversion of incident UV or visible photons into NIR photons via the QC process.…”

Energy transfer mechanism for downconversion in the (Pr3+,Yb3+Wijngaarden1, Scheidelaar2, Vlugt3 et al. 2010Phys. Rev. B1221450View full textAdd to dashboardCite

“…9 Following this work, downconversion was reported for a variety of other lanthanide ion couples including ͑Pr,Yb͒, ͑Tm, Yb͒, and ͑Er, Yb͒. [10][11][12][13] Contrary to the detailed studies on the upconversion mechanisms in lanthanide-doped upconversion materials ͑see, e.g., Ref. 5͒, research on the downconversion mechanisms is limited.…”

Near infrared quantum cutting in heavy Yb doped Ce0.03Yb3xY(2.97−3x)Al5O12 transparent ceramics for crystalline silicon solar cells

“…[2][3][4] Recently, considerable attention has been focused on the efficient quantum cutting ͑QC͒ for its potential application in minimizing the thermalization of charge carriers and meantime enhancing the efficiency of conventional crystalline silicon solar cells. So far, much work has been done on the Yb 3+ and other trivalent lanthanides ͑short for "Ln 3+ " and Ln 3+ =Tm 3+ , Pr 3+ , Tb 3+ or Ce 3+ , etc͒ codoped powders, [5][6][7][8][9] oxyfluoride glass ceramics, [10][11][12] and glasses. 13,14 In these literatures, the cooperative downconversion emission from Ln 3+ to Yb 3+ enables the quantum efficiency close to 200%, and the ϳ1000 nm emission of Yb 3+ just meets the largest spectral response of crystalline silicon solar cells.…”