Erbium Doped Semiconductor Thin Films Prepared by Rf Magnetron Sputtering

Abstract

ABSTRACTHighly Er-doped (∼ 1020 atoms/cm3) silicon and silica films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering. Erbium was doped into the host material by co-sputtering technique. Deposited films (0.5 - 1.2 µm thick) were characterized by photoluminescence (PL), secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), and fluorescence decay measurements. Er-doped silica glass films show a strong, room-temperature luminescence at 1.54 µm wavelength. In contrast, Er-doped silicon films show a weak luminescence at room temperature. However, a big enhancement in the Er3+ luminescence was observed after a proper annealing, for example, 900 °C for 30 to 120 min in air ambient, resulting in the luminescence intensities comparable with that of the Er-doped silica films. This enhancement is attributed to the oxygen incorporation into the Si host film during the annealing, thus forming an Er-doped oxide layer on top of the film. The result suggests that Er-O bonding plays important role in forming optically active erbium ions. Erdoped, three-component silicate glass (SiO2 + A12O3 + MgO) films were also sputter deposited to investigate the dependence of Er3+ luminescence on the host material's composition. Even stronger luminescence was observed from the Er-doped, three component silicate glass films compared with the Er-doped SiO2 films.