Structural and Photoluminescence Studies of Er Implanted Lt-GaAs:Be

Abstract

AbstractCharacteristic 1.54 μm Era3+ emission has been observed from Er-implanted and annealed, low-temperature grown GaAs:Be samples. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies reveal very little structural damage for elevated temperature implants up to an Er total fluence of 1.36 × 1014 Er/cm2. No Er emission was observed from any of the as-implanted samples, while post-implantation annealing optimized the Er emission intensity near 650°C. The Er-emission appears on top of a broad background luminescence peaking near 1500 nm. Significant enhancement of the optically active Er incorporation was achieved when the implantation was carried out at 300TC. The Er emission intensity was found to scale linearly with the Er implantation fluence for samples with an Er concentration up to ∼1019 Er/cm3. The sample with the highest Er concentration (∼1020 Er/cm3) began to show a sublinear dependence. The beginning of Er precipitation was observed after 750°C annealing, but it could even be observed after a 650°C annealing for the highest Er concentration sample. These precipitates are likely ErAs.