Polymer solar spectrum down-converters made by open-air concurrent multi-beam multi-target pulsed laser deposition

Abdalla M. Darwish; Sergey S. Sarkisov; Simeon Wilson; Jamaya Wilson; Eboni Collins; Justin Mathews; Kyu Cho; Anit Giri; Darayas N. Patel; Lynn Koplitz; Brent Koplitz; David Hui

doi:10.1117/12.2567326

20 August 2020 Polymer solar spectrum down-converters made by open-air concurrent multi-beam multi-target pulsed laser deposition

Abdalla M. Darwish, Sergey S. Sarkisov, Simeon Wilson, Jamaya Wilson, Eboni Collins, Justin Mathews, Kyu Cho, Anit Giri, Darayas N. Patel, Lynn Koplitz, Brent Koplitz, David Hui

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 11498, Photonic Fiber and Crystal Devices: Advances in Materials and Innovations in Device Applications XIV; 1149802 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2567326
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2020, Online Only

Abstract

Sunlight spectrum down-converting films absorb UV/blue sunlight and convert it in near infrared (NIR) radiation that generates electricity in conventional photovoltaic (PV) cells more efficiently. In this paper we report on down-convertors in the form of polymer nanocomposite films impregnated with nanoparticles of lanthanide phosphor NaYF₄:Yb³⁺, Tm³⁺ . This compound was synthesized using the wet method and ball-milled in nano-powder. The phosphor produced relatively intense NIR radiation if the region between 960 and 1100 nm with a quantum efficiency of ~5%. It was chemically stable and could be transferred in the polymer film using the open-air concurrent multi-beam multi-target pulsed laser deposition (CMBMT-PLD). Two beams from a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at a wavelength of 1064 nm were used to ablate two targets. One PLD target was made of compressed nano-powder of the phosphor. The second target was made of polymer poly (methyl methacrylate) known as PMMA. The phosphor preserved its down-converting properties during the deposition and mixing with the polymer. The deposited PMMA+NaYF₄:Yb³⁺, Tm³⁺ nanocomposite films responded with uniform, mostly blue upconversion radiation to the testing illumination with a NIR laser diode at 980 nm. This proved that the phosphor nanoparticles were evenly distributed in the polymer matrix and preserved the optical properties of the PLD target. Post-deposition heating was shown to significantly improve uniformity of the nanocomposite films.

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Abdalla M. Darwish, Sergey S. Sarkisov, Simeon Wilson, Jamaya Wilson, Eboni Collins, Justin Mathews, Kyu Cho, Anit Giri, Darayas N. Patel, Lynn Koplitz, Brent Koplitz, and David Hui "Polymer solar spectrum down-converters made by open-air concurrent multi-beam multi-target pulsed laser deposition", Proc. SPIE 11498, Photonic Fiber and Crystal Devices: Advances in Materials and Innovations in Device Applications XIV, 1149802 (20 August 2020); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2567326

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