Broadband near-infrared quantum cutting by Ce-Yb codoped YAG transparent glass ceramics for silicon solar cells

Yuping Tai; Xinzhong Li; Xigang Du; Bingli Pan; Guanghui Yuan

doi:10.1039/c8ra04154g

Broadband near-infrared quantum cutting by Ce-Yb codoped YAG transparent glass ceramics for silicon solar cells

RSC Adv. 2018 Jun 26;8(41):23268-23273. doi: 10.1039/c8ra04154g. eCollection 2018 Jun 21.

Authors

Yuping Tai¹, Xinzhong Li², Xigang Du¹, Bingli Pan¹, Guanghui Yuan³

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemical Engineering and Pharmaceutics, Henan University of Science and Technology Luoyang 471003 P. R. China yupingtai@126.com.
² School of Physics and Engineering, Henan University of Science and Technology Luoyang 471003 P. R. China.
³ Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Ankang University Ankang 725000 P. R. China.

Abstract

Ce³⁺-Yb³⁺ co-doped transparent glass ceramics containing YAG nanocrystals were prepared by a conventional melt-quenching method. Broadband near infrared quantum cutting was achieved in the glass ceramics and proved to be a cooperative down-conversion process. Under 460 nm excitation, ²F_5/2 to 5d₁ electronic transitions occurred in Ce³⁺ and transferred their energy to two neighboring Yb³⁺. The dependence of the luminescence spectra and decay curves on Yb³⁺ concentration was investigated to understand the energy transfer mechanism. The energy transfer efficiency and the down-conversion quantum efficiency were estimated to be as high as 77.8% and 177.8%, respectively. This work will open a new route towards increased efficiency in silicon solar cells.