Enhanced photoluminescence around 1540 nm from erbium doped silicon coimplanted with hydrogen and silver

Abstract

This work reports on an approach based on coimplantation of hydrogen and silver for improving luminescence around 1540 nm from erbium doped silicon. As a result of H induced nanocavities and their gettering of implanted Ag ions, Ag nanostructures are formed in Si doped with erbium and oxygen. The presence of such nanostructures can lead to an enhancement of more than a factor of 2 in Er photoluminescence, compared to the control sample. In addition, analysis of PL data suggests that both the Er excitation cross section and the Er optical activation are increased by the formation of Ag nanostructures. We discuss possible mechanisms for these findings.