Electrical and photoluminescence studies of GeSbSeEr chalcogenide films

Abstract

In a recent study, we investigated the effect of erbium doping in Ge18Sb8Se75 chalcogenide systems to improve their electrical and photoluminescence properties. The chalcogenide glasses (ChG) were synthesized using the traditional melt-quenching technique, and the thin film was deposited using the thermal evaporation technique. Photoluminescence studies of the synthesized samples were obtained at room temperature with intense emission bands at 844 nm, 864 nm, and 876 nm after excitation with a solid-state laser at 980 nm. For the electrical study, the current–voltage (I-V) characteristics of pure Ge17Sb8Se75 and Er-doped Ge17Sb8Se74 were investigated using the 2-probe method, which shows that the electrical properties of the sample are improved by the addition of Er. The conductivity of pure Ge17Sb8Se75 increases to 6.6 times with the addition of Er in Ge17Sb8Se75, which could be due to the electronic transition Er(4f) → Er(5d) and movement, which causes an increase in conductivity. Furthermore, The DC conductivity increases with increasing Er content. The large number of band transitions in the near-infrared region makes the material suitable for bio-imaging.