We alleviated three issues plaguing the conventional NIR-to-visible upconverting PbSrubrene/DBP devices: (1) low absorption of NIR photons, (2) low energy transfer rates from PbS to rubrene/DBP, and (3) highly parasitic back transfer (BT) from rubrene/DBP to PbS. Upon incorporation of 5-tetracene carboxylic acid as a blocker layer, we achieved a champion UC EQE of 0.011% with average peak EQEs of (0.010 ± 0.001)% at 5.3 W/cm 2 of 808 nm excitation. We uncovered the mechanism of EQE improvement, finding the back-transfer alleviation to be the primary source, especially for thicker PbS films. We believe this demonstration functions as a proof of concept of a device architecture which can be broadened to other upconversion systems to improve EQEs in the solid-state for practical incorporation in real-world applications. Additionally, the EQE improvement in this NIR-to-visible regime is a key step towards the realization of TTA-UC in photovoltaics, night vision, and anti-counterfeiting technologies. This demonstration functions as a proof of concept of a device architecture which can be applied to other solid-state UC systems to improve efficiencies for practical incorporation in real-world applications.