Effective formation of Ag nanoclusters and efficient energy transfer to Yb3+ ions in borosilicate glasses for photovoltaic application

Borosilicate glasses containing Ag nanoclusters (Ag NCs), Eu3+ and Yb3+ were prepared with the melt quenching method, in which an efficient energy transfer from Ag NCs to Yb3+ can be realized. Unlike the previous reports in which Eu3+ act as either sensitizer or luminescence center, the role of Eu3+ in this system is to promote the formation of Ag NCs and thus effectively increased the number of sensitizer at low AgNO3 doping. With optimized AgNO3 and YbF3 concentrations of 0.5 and 1.0 mol% respectively, 6.3 times further enhanced Yb3+ infrared emission can be obtained through the introduction of trace amount of EuF3. Additionally, the origin of Ag NCs visible emission, the mechanism that is responsible for the energy transfer from Ag NCs to Yb3+, and the effect of YbF3 and EuF3 doping on the formation of Ag NCs were discussed.