Nanoplasmonics and surface enhanced spectroscopy

Plasmon enhanced photoluminescence of down-converting YAG:Bi,Ce,Yb layers for photovoltaic applications 
M. Kushlyk1,2, V. Tsiumra1,2, Ya. Zhydachevskyy1,3, V. Haiduchok3,4, I.I. Syvorotka3,4, D. Sugak3,4, A. Suchocki1,5
1 Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Al. Lotników 32/46, Warsaw 02-668, Poland
2 Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, 107 Tarnavskoho str., Lviv 79017, Ukraine  
3 Lviv Polytechnic National University, 12 Bandera str., Lviv 79646, Ukraine
4 SRC „Carat“, 202 Stryjska str., Lviv 79031, Ukraine
5Institute of Physics Kazimierz Wielki University, 11 Weyssenhoffa str., Bydgoszcz 85-072, Poland 
E-mail: kushlykmarik@gmail.com

The increasing silicon solar cells efficiency while keeping low cost of production is one of the goals of the silicon photovoltaic industry to continuously decrease the cost of the power generation. Such an objective can be achieved by using frequency convertion, manufacturing solar cells with so-called down-converting (DC) or down-shifting (DS) layers. In addition to this, the plasmon resonance in noble metal nanoparticles has important implications for optics and photovoltaics in the visible and infrared spectral regions. Recently, results of relatively high enhancement ratio for different phosphor materials with silver nanoparticles were shown.
Here, studies of the photoluminescence enhancement of YAG:Bi,Ce,Yb DC layers modified by a different silver plasmonic structures are presented. Also, the influence of such modified DC layers on the spectral photovoltaic response (SPR) of silicon solar cell are demonstrated.
The performed luminescence studies of the Ce3+–Yb3+ co-doped YAG phosphor films modified by Ag plasmonics show increase of photoluminescence (PL) intensity up to 350% both for Ce3+ and Yb3+ ions at room temperature. The SPR studies of single crystalline Si solar cell covered with such phosphor films modified by plasmonics revealed enhancement of efficiency in UV region up to 2.7 times, and overall enhancement of efficiency (integral under SPR in the 250-1000 nm range) up to 3.6%.