Er-doped ZnO films grown by pulsed e-beam deposition

Abstract

Erbium (Er)-doped ZnO thin films were grown on fused silica(SiO2) substrates by pulsed electron-beam deposition (PED) and analysed by Rutherford backscatteringspectrometry (RBS), ultraviolet–visible absorption, and photoluminescence (PL). Subsequent annealingat 700 °C produces remarkable effects on the optical properties of Er-doped films. Under 325 nmexcitation, a dramatic increase of deep-level emission from 450 to 680 nm was observed fromannealed Er-doped ZnO films. Under 488 nm excitation, the PL spectrum of annealedEr-doped ZnO films revealed sharp and well-resolved Stark-splitting peaks in both thegreen emission of transition and the red emission of transition of Er3+ ions, which suggests that the Er ions have been incorporated inside the crystalline ZnOgrains after thermal annealing.