Rare-earth element anti-Stokes emission from three inverse photonic lattices

Abstract

The fabrication of a two-dimensional photonic lattice of ZrO2:Er3+ on a silicon substrate and two three-dimensional photonic lattices, ZrO2:Eu3+ and TiO2:Er3+, are described. It is demonstrated that, for the two-dimensional lattice, photonic properties dependent on the lattice are not present, although another effect that was dependent on the structure is discussed. For the two three-dimensional photonic lattices, the position of the photonic stopband relative to the emission bands of the anti-Stokes phosphors is shown to be crucial in controlling emission properties. In the case of the ZrO2:Eu3+ lattice, where the stopband was close to both the emission and the exciting wavelengths, the intensities of both were affected. However, for the TiO2:Er3+ lattice, where the stopband was far from the exciting and emission wavelengths, no such effect was seen. It was concluded from this work that it should be possible to prepare unconverting photonic lattices with stopbands that extend the lifetimes of certain excited states by inhibiting spontaneous emission from them, thereby facilitating enhanced upconversion efficiency.