Sunlight spectrum down-converting films absorb UV/blue sunlight and convert it in near infrared (NIR) radiation that generates electricity in conventional photovoltaic (PV) cells more efficiently. In this paper we report on down-convertors in the form of polymer nanocomposite films impregnated with nanoparticles of lanthanide phosphor NaYF4:Yb3+, Tm3+ . This compound was synthesized using the wet method and ball-milled in nano-powder. The phosphor produced relatively intense NIR radiation if the region between 960 and 1100 nm with a quantum efficiency of ~5%. It was chemically stable and could be transferred in the polymer film using the open-air concurrent multi-beam multi-target pulsed laser deposition (CMBMT-PLD). Two beams from a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at a wavelength of 1064 nm were used to ablate two targets. One PLD target was made of compressed nano-powder of the phosphor. The second target was made of polymer poly (methyl methacrylate) known as PMMA. The phosphor preserved its down-converting properties during the deposition and mixing with the polymer. The deposited PMMA+NaYF4:Yb3+, Tm3+ nanocomposite films responded with uniform, mostly blue upconversion radiation to the testing illumination with a NIR laser diode at 980 nm. This proved that the phosphor nanoparticles were evenly distributed in the polymer matrix and preserved the optical properties of the PLD target. Post-deposition heating was shown to significantly improve uniformity of the nanocomposite films.
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