摘要
Our previous work first reported the cooperative sensitized luminescence from Cu2＋ or Pb2＋ by three clustered Yb^3＋ ions, in which three NIR photons can be converted into a high energy photon. Could a reverse process happen that a high energy photon is cut into three NIR photons？ This work demonstrated an example of three-photon quantum cutting （QC） phosphor, CaF2：Ce^3＋,Yb^3＋, in which three clustered Yb^3＋ ions （Yb^3＋-trimer） cooperatively and indirectly received a 306 nm ultraviolet （UV） photon energy transferred from a Ce^3＋ ion in 5d excited state and emitted three 975 nm near-infrared （NIR） photons. The cluster destruction experiments were designed to verify the necessity of the presence of Yb^3＋-trimers for QC. The dynamical analysis on luminescence of Ce^3＋ ions confirmed the energy transfer from Ce^3＋ ions to Yb^3＋-trimers. The doping concentration effect on luminescence was investigated. Furthermore, the maximum energy transfer （ET） efficiency and the corresponding QC efficiency were estimated to be 61% and 222%, respectively. Therefore, the reported three-photon QC phosphor has an attractive prospect in efficiently harvesting solar energy for silicon solar cells.
Our previous work first reported the cooperative sensitized luminescence from Cu2＋ or Pb2＋ by three clustered Yb^3＋ ions, in which three NIR photons can be converted into a high energy photon. Could a reverse process happen that a high energy photon is cut into three NIR photons？ This work demonstrated an example of three-photon quantum cutting （QC） phosphor, CaF2：Ce^3＋,Yb^3＋, in which three clustered Yb^3＋ ions （Yb^3＋-trimer） cooperatively and indirectly received a 306 nm ultraviolet （UV） photon energy transferred from a Ce^3＋ ion in 5d excited state and emitted three 975 nm near-infrared （NIR） photons. The cluster destruction experiments were designed to verify the necessity of the presence of Yb^3＋-trimers for QC. The dynamical analysis on luminescence of Ce^3＋ ions confirmed the energy transfer from Ce^3＋ ions to Yb^3＋-trimers. The doping concentration effect on luminescence was investigated. Furthermore, the maximum energy transfer （ET） efficiency and the corresponding QC efficiency were estimated to be 61% and 222%, respectively. Therefore, the reported three-photon QC phosphor has an attractive prospect in efficiently harvesting solar energy for silicon solar cells.
基金
Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(11274139)
