Ho(3+)-doped nanophase glass ceramics for efficiency enhancement in silicon solar cells

Currently Er(3+)-doped fluorides are being used as upconversion phosphors to enhance the efficiency of Si solar cells, to our knowledge. However, this enhancement is strongly limited owing to the small solar spectral range around 1540 nm that is used. We demonstrate that Ho(3+)-doped oxyfluoride glass ceramics are adequate to enlarge the Si sub-bandgap region around 1170 nm that can be transformed into higher-energy photons, showing an upconversion efficiency 2 orders of magnitude higher than the precursor glass. As these materials are transparent at 1540 nm, they can be used complementarily with Er(3+)-doped phosphors for the same purpose.