Simultaneous excitation and emission enhancement of near-infrared quantum cutting in β-NaYF4:Er3+ nanoparticles by double plasmon modes of noble metals

The double plasmon modes of noble metals are utilized to efficiently enhance the near-infrared (NIR) quantum cutting (QC) luminescence at 977 nm in beta-NaYF4:Er3+ nanoparticles (NPs) under the excitation of 486 nm. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of Ag nanocubes (NCs) and Au nanorods (NRs) are simultaneously utilized to enhance the excitation efficiency and emission rate of NIR QC luminescence in beta-NaYF4: Er3+ NPs, respectively, and the maximum enhancement factor is 3.5 when the concentration of Au NRs is 0.225% and Ag NCs is 0.06%. It has significantly improved the enhancement factor compared to beta-NaYF4:Er3+ NPs decorated with the Ag NCs or Au NRs, respectively. Our research may improve photovoltaic conversion efficiency by making better use of the QC layer on top of silicon-based solar cells.