Near-infrared quantum cutting in Tm3+/Yb3+-doped phosphate glasses

Abstract A series of phosphate glasses with compositions of 30SrO-60P2O5-10Na2O-0.5Tm2O3-xYb2O3(x = 0, 1, 5, 9, 11 in mol%) were manufactured by melt-casting method, the quantum cutting between the Tm3+ and Yb3+ in the phosphate glasses is investigated, the energy transfer from Tm3+:1G4 to Yb3+:2F5/2 is proved. According to calculate, the highest quantum efficiency is up to 159.9%, the emission wavelength is at 1020 nm, matching the energy band gap of a silicon solar cell well, therefor, these phosphate glasses could potentially be used in silicon solar cells