Near-infrared down-conversion in Er3+–Yb3+ co-doped transparent nanostructured glass ceramics for crystalline silicon solar cells

Yuping Tai; Hanying Wang; Hui Wang; Jintao Bai

doi:10.1039/C5RA25800F

Near-infrared down-conversion in Er³⁺–Yb³⁺ co-doped transparent nanostructured glass ceramics for crystalline silicon solar cells†

Yuping Tai,^ac Hanying Wang,^b Hui Wang*^ab and Jintao Bai*^b

* Corresponding authors

^a Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Natural Functional Molecule Chemistry (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Northwest University, Xi'an 710069, P. R. China
E-mail: huiwang@nwu.edu.cn
Fax: +86 029 88302571
Tel: +86 029 88363115

^b National Key Laboratory of Photoelectric Technology and Functional Materials (Culture Base), National Photoelectric Technology and Functional Materials and Application of International Science and Technology Cooperation Base, Institute of Photonics & Photon-Technology, Northwest University, Xi'an 710069, P. R. China
E-mail: baijt@nwu.edu.cn

^c School of Chemical Engineering & Pharmaceutics, Henan University of Science & Technology, Luoyang, P. R. China

Abstract

A two-step energy transfer was achieved in Er³⁺–Yb³⁺ co-doped transparent glass ceramics containing CaF₂ nanocrystals, which involved down-conversion of an absorbed visible photon to two emitted near-infrared photons. Therefore, the Yb³⁺ emission centered at 980 nm was efficiently enhanced in response to the strongest absorption of crystalline silicon solar cells. The mechanisms of the two-step energy transfer mechanism were verified based on spectral and lifetime measurements, and the maximal energy transfer efficiency and corresponding quantum yield obtained were as high as 75.3% and 150.6%, respectively. As a result, near-infrared quantum cutting transparent glass ceramics will open a route to enhance the energy efficiency of silicon solar cells.

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Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C5RA25800F
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 03 Dec 2015
Accepted: 15 Dec 2015
First published: 18 Dec 2015

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RSC Adv., 2016,6, 4085-4089

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Near-infrared down-conversion in Er³⁺–Yb³⁺ co-doped transparent nanostructured glass ceramics for crystalline silicon solar cells

Y. Tai, H. Wang, H. Wang and J. Bai, RSC Adv., 2016, 6, 4085 DOI: 10.1039/C5RA25800F

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