High efficient quantum cutting in Ce3+/Yb3+co-doped oxyfluoride glasses

•Ce3+/Yb3+ co-doped oxyfluoride glasses are synthesized by melt-quenching method.•NIR emission under 322nm excitation indicates energy transfer from Ce3+ to Yb3+.•Efficient quantum cutting with the maximum quantum efficiency of 191% is obtained. A kind of high efficient near infrared (NIR) quantum cutting oxyfluoride glasses co-doped with Ce3+ and Yb3+ had been synthesized. Due to the cooperative energy transfer (CET) from one Ce3+ to two Yb3+ ions, an intense characteristic NIR emission around 976nm attributed to 2F5/2→2F7/2 transition of Yb3+ was obtained when 322nm ascribed to the 4f→5d transition of Ce3+ was selected as an excitation wavelength. The maximum quantum efficiency (QE) of our glasses was estimated to be 191.0%. The high efficiency of the glasses indicated that it could be a potential quantum cutting convertor for practical application to improve the photovoltaic energy conversion efficiency of crystalline Si solar cells.