Near-infrared quantum cutting of Ce3+-Nd3+ co-doped Y3Al5O12 crystal for crystalline silicon solar cells

Near-infrared (NIR) quantum cutting involving the down-conversion of an absorbed visible photon to emission of two NIR photons was demonstrated in Y3Al5O12 (YAG):0.01Ce(3+),xNd(3+) (x= 0,1, 2, 5, 10,15 mol %) samples. The photoluminescence properties of samples in visible and NIR regions were investigated to verify the energy transfer (ET) from Ce3+ to Nd3+. Results indicated that Nd3+ emissions located at 1064 nm was efficiently enhanced with Nd3+ concentration increasing because of ET from Ce3+. Based on these results, a possible two-pathway ET mechanism from Ce3+ to Nd3+ was presented. The decay lifetimes of YAG:0.01Ce(3+), xNd(3+) were estimated further to confirm the ET from Ce3+ to Nd3+. Simultaneously, the energy transfer efficiency (ETE) and quantum efficiency (QE) of YAG:0.01Ce(3+), xNd(3+) samples have been calculated as high as 79.43% and 160.7%, respectively. On the basis of maximum ETE and QE, the conclusion was drawn that the optimum Nd3+ concentration is 10 mol% and distance between Y3+ ions was 0.3659 nm without concentration quenching. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.