Enhanced downconversion of UV light by resonant scattering of aluminum nanoparticles

Year: 2012

Authors: Mupparapu R., Vynck K., Malfanti I., Vignolini S., Burresi M., Scudo P., Fusco R., Wiersma D.

Autors Affiliation: European Laboratory for Non-linear Spectroscopy (LENS), University of Florence, Via Nello Carrara 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy;
Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK;
CNR – Istituto Nazionale di Ottica (CNR-INO), Largo Fermi 6, 50125 Florence, Italy;
ENI Donegani Institute, Research Center for Non Conventional Energy, Novara, Italy

Abstract: Metallic nanoparticles are known to enhance nonlinear optical processes due to a local enhancement of the optical field. This strategy has been proposed to enhance downconversion in thin film solar cells, but has various disadvantages, among which is the fact that the enhancement occurs only in a tiny volume close to the particles. We report on a very different physical mechanism that can lead to significant downconversion enhancement, namely, that of resonant light scattering, and which is a large volume effect. We show that only a tiny amount of resonantly scattering metallic (aluminum) nanoparticles is enough to create a significant enhancement of the fluorescence of dye molecules in the visible wavelength range. The strategy can be applied in general to increase the emission of UV-absorbing constituents, and is of particular use for solar energy. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America

Journal/Review: OPTICS LETTERS

Volume: 37 (3)      Pages from: 368  to: 370

More Information: This work was supported in part by ENI S.p.A., the CNR project \”Energia da Fonti rinnovabili,\” and the European Network of Excellence \”Nanophotonics for Energy Efficiency.\” We thank Agnese Marcelli for her guidance in fluorescence measurements and Paolo Foggi for the fluorescence spectrometer.
KeyWords: Aluminum nanoparticles; Downconversion; Dye molecule; Metallic nanoparticles; Nonlinear optical process; Optical field; Physical mechanism; Resonant scattering; Thin film solar cells; Visible-wavelength range; Volume effect, Aluminum, Nanoparticles, aluminum; metal nanoparticle, article; chemistry; radiation scattering; spectrofluorometry; ultraviolet radiation, Aluminum; Metal Nanoparticles; Scattering, Radiation; Spectrometry, Fluorescence; Ultraviolet Rays
DOI: 10.1364/OL.37.000368

Citations: 14
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