Near-infrared quantum cutting in Yb3+ ion doped strontium vanadate

The materials Sr3-x(VO4)(2:x)Yb were successfully synthesized by co-precipitation method varying the concentration of Yb3+ ions from 0 to 0.06 mol. It was characterize by powder X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and surface morphology was studied by scanning electronic microscope (SEM). The photoluminescence (PL) properties were studied by spectrophotometers in near infra red (NIR) and ultra violet visible (UV-VIS) region. The Yb3+ ion doped tristrontium vanadate (Sr-3(VO4)(2)) phosphors that can convert a photon of UV region (349 nm) into photons of NIR region (978, 996 and 1026 nm). Hence this phosphor could be used as a quantum cutting (QC) luminescent convertor in front of crystalline silicon solar cell (c-Si) panels to reduce thermalization loss due to spectral mismatch of the solar cells. The theoretical value of quantum efficiency (QE) was calculated from steady time decay measurement and the maximum efficiency approached up to 144.43%. The Sr3-x(VO4)(2:x)Yb can be potentiality used for betterment of photovoltaic (PV) technology. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.