Abstract
Photoluminescence (PL) of Er and Ge co-doped ZnO films synthesized by radio frequency magnetron co-sputtering was investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns showed that the annealing process at 400–800 °C led to the formation of nanocrystal (nc) Ge. Samples containing nc-Ge showed a strong visible PL with a peak at 582–593 nm, which was consistent with the calculated energy of the exciton of the ~5 nm-sized nc-Ge, according to the quantum confinement effect. The formation of nc-Ge could greatly enhance the 1.54 μm emission, and it is considered that the 1.54 μm PL enhancement may come from a joint effect of both the energy transfer from nc-Ge to Er3+ and the local environment change of Er3+.
Highlights
Doping rare earth (RE) ion luminescence centers into the carrier of semiconductors is an important method to fabricate light-emitting and light amplifier devices [1,2,3,4]
There have been a limited number of reports about Ge-doped ZnO thin film structures [26,27], as far as we know no related research on the PL effect of Ge and Er-doped ZnO (Er) co-doped ZnO (Ge:Er:ZnO) material has been carried out
The 1.54 μm PL is greatly enhanced in a 600 ◦C annealed Ge:Er:ZnO sample, and it is considered that the PL enhancement may come from a joint effect of both the energy transfer from nc-Ge to Er3+ and the local environment change of Er3+
Summary
Doping rare earth (RE) ion luminescence centers (such as erbium) into the carrier of semiconductors is an important method to fabricate light-emitting and light amplifier devices [1,2,3,4]. The 1.54 μm PL is greatly enhanced in a 600 ◦C annealed Ge:Er:ZnO sample, and it is considered that the PL enhancement may come from a joint effect of both the energy transfer from nc-Ge to Er3+ and the local environment change of Er3+. This oriented growth begins to be noticeable in as-deposited film, and is enhanced as annealing temperature increases, as it can be deduced from the evolution of the width and intensity of the corresponding peaks with temperature.
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