Fabrication and evaluation of green-light emitting Ta 2 O 5 :Er, Ce co-sputtered thin films

Abstract

a b s t r a c tErbium and cerium co-doped tantalum-oxide (Ta 2 O 5 :Er, Ce) thin films were fabricated using radio-frequency co-sputtering of Ta 2 O 5 , Er 2 O 3 , and CeO 2 for the first time. Enhanced green-light emission due to Er 3+ that seems to be sensitized by Ce 3+ was observed from the film annealed at 900°C for 20 min. From XRD measurements of the films, the b-Ta 2 O 5 (orthorhombic), d-Ta 2 O 5 (hexagonal), and (2 0 1) Ta 2 O 5 phases seem to be very important for obtaining green PL from them. Such Ta 2 O 5 :Er, Ce co-sputtered films can be used as high-refractive-index materials of autocloned photonic crystals that can be applied to novel green-light-emitting devices, and they will also be used as multi-functional coating films that can work both as anti-reflection and down-conversion films for realizing high-efficiency silicon solar cells.

Fabrication of Erbium and Ytterbium Co-Doped Tantalum-Oxide Thin Films Using Radio-Frequency Co-Sputtering

“…Furthermore, in our recent works, we demonstrated Tm and Ce co-doped Ta 2 O 5 (Ta 2 O 5 :Tm, Ce) [8], Er and Ce co-doped Ta 2 O 5 (Ta 2 O 5 :Er, Ce) [9], and Er, Eu, and Ce co-doped Ta 2 O 5 (Ta 2 O 5 :Er, Eu, Ce) [10] thin films prepared using the co-sputtering method. In this work, we fabricated an Er and Yb co-doped Ta 2 O 5 (Ta 2 O 5 :Er, Yb) thin film using radio-frequency (RF) magnetron co-sputtering of Ta 2 O 5 , Er 2 O 3 , and Yb 2 O 3 for the first time, and evaluated its PL property.…”

Photoluminescence Properties of Europium and Cerium Co-Doped Tantalum-Oxide Thin Films Prepared Using Co-Sputtering Method

“…We also prepared Er and Ce co-doped Ta 2 O 5 (Ta 2 O 5 : Er, Ce) thin films using co-sputtering of Er 2 O 3 , CeO 2 and Ta 2 O 5 . An enhanced green PL peak that seems to be sensitized by Ce 3+ was observed from a film annealed at 900˚C [11]. We can obtain Ce 3+ from CeO 2 (cerium (IV) oxide) pellets because a small amount of Ce 3+ exists at the surface of CeO 2 [13].…”

“…silicon dioxide (SiO 2 )) [5]. We have fabricated various rare-earth doped Ta 2 O 5 thin films using simply co-sputtering of rare-earth oxide pellets and a Ta 2 O 5 disc, and we obtained various PL properties from these rare-earth-doped Ta 2 O 5 thin films [6]- [11]. We reported on red or orange PL from europium (Eu)-doped Ta 2 O 5 (Ta 2 O 5 : Eu) thin films deposited using the same co-sputtering method [9].…”

Stokes and Anti-Stokes Luminescent Rare-Earth-Doped Tantalum Oxide Nanoparticles

“…One approach to set the desirable properties to tantalum oxide for optical and electrochemical applications , is to dope the oxide matrix with REEs. On a Ta 2 O 5 base, luminescent thin films, − bulk gels, and mixed oxides were prepared. Meanwhile, the preparation of REE-doped particles of Ta 2 O 5 is presented in a small number of publications. − The obtained materials are promising for photocatalytic , and electrocatalytic applications, rib waveguide lasers, and X-ray-excited optical luminescent agents .…”