Luminescent Solar Concentrators and the Ways to Increase Their Efficiencies

Erbium ion implantation into LiNbO3, Al2O3, ZnO and diamond – measurement and modelling – an overview

“…[1][2][3] Doping of materials with lanthanides is used for various applications mainly in photonics and electronics 4 using special electron configurations of lanthanide elements with f-orbitals. Lanthanidedoped materials include photonic components -such as optical amplifiers and lasers, 5,6 light-emitting diodes (LED), 7,8 active optical waveguides, 9 luminescent solar concentrators, 10,11 displays, 12 etc. -as well as components for special applicationssuch as semiconductor quantum dots, [13][14][15] luminescent biosensors, 16 medical bioimaging, 17 permanent magnets, [18][19][20] etc.…”

Photophysical properties of new p-phenylene- and benzodithiophene-based fluorophores for luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs)

“…Nevertheless, optical concentrators have some disadvantages such as the need of rotation mechanisms that allow the concentrator to follow the Sun's apparent motion, and a cooling system to disperse the excess heat due to unconverted energy [5][6]. To compensate for these defects luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) were developed [7][8][9][10][11][12][13].…”

A Selective Cation Exchange Strategy for the Synthesis of Colloidal Yb3+-Doped Chalcogenide Nanocrystals with Strong Broadband Visible Absorption and Long-Lived Near-Infrared Emission

“…The characteristic optical properties of the trivalent lanthanide ionsespecially their efficient and sharp “atomic-like” emission from internal f - f transitionshave made them the longstanding targets of extensive research and development for a multitude of photonics applications ranging from phosphors, lasers, and fiber amplifiers to upconverters and bioimaging probes. − Ytterbium­(III), in particular, is attractive for its potential as a luminophore in luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs), because the ∼1000 nm emission from its 2 F 5/2 → 2 F 7/2 transition is well-matched to the band gap of silicon. − The narrow absorption features and very low extinction coefficients of these formally parity-forbidden f-f transitions present a challenge for this and other new phosphor applications, however. Whereas in traditional applications such as color-conversion phosphors for fluorescent lighting, high-energy (e.g., UV) photons can generate f-f emission by exciting strongly allowed lanthanide f-d or charge-transfer (CT) transitions, new applications such as LSCs will require strong visible-light absorption to capture sufficient solar radiation.…”