Near-infrared quantum cutting in Tb 3+ and Yb 3+ -doped Y 2 O 3 nanophosphors Abhijit P. Jadhav 1 • Sovann Khan 1,2 • Sun Jin Kim 1 • Seung Yong Lee 1,2 • Jong-Ku Park 1 • So-Hye Cho 1,2 Received: 12 November 2014 / Accepted: 14 January 2015 Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016 Abstract Properties of the quantum-cutting phosphors are dependent on various factors such as dopant concentration, crystallinity, homogeneity, particle size and surface morphology. Effective control of the above parameters can enhance the quantum-cutting ability of the phosphor material. Nano-sized particles of Y 2 O 3 :- Tb 3? ,Yb 3? were prepared with a solution-based co-precipitation method and sub- sequent calcination. Effective control of the reaction parameters and doping concentration helped to produce uniform nanostructures with high quantum-cutting efficiency up to 181.1 %. The energy transfer mechanism between Tb 3? and Yb 3? was studied by considering their spectroscopic properties and time-resolved spec- troscopy. The high efficiency and small particle size of the quantum-cutting phos- phor Y 2 O 3 :Tb 3? ,Yb 3? make it a suitable candidate for its application in solar cells. Keywords Yttrium oxide Á Co-precipitation Á Quantum cutting Á Nanoparticles Á Phosphors Introduction Witnessing significant development of the photovoltaic (PV) industry over the past few decades, researchers are still struggling for an efficient and cost-effective conversion of solar energy into electricity through PV cells. Quantum cutting through down-conversion is able to split one incident photon into two (or more) lower-energy & So-Hye Cho sohyec@kist.re.kr 1 Materials Architecturing Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Hwarangno 14-gil 5, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02792, Republic of Korea 2 Department of Nanomaterial Science and Engineering, Korea University of Science and Technology, Gajeong-ro 217, Yuseong-gu, Daejon 04763, Republic of Korea 123 Res Chem Intermed DOI 10.1007/s11164-016-2427-9