Luminescence of Rare Earth Doped Si/Al/SiO₂ Co-Sputtered Films

Abstract

Er 3+ , and Nd 3+ doped Si/Al/SiO 2 and thin films have been prepared by rf co-sputtering. Some of these films were annealed to 700ºC. Erbium doped Si/Al/SiO 2 films were prepared with two different sputtering configurations: one configuration with a large quantity of Al and a second configuration with a smaller quantity of Al. The configuration with large quantity of Al shows a diminished luminescence at 1.53 µm, but this emission is increased by substrate heating. The configuration with smaller quantity of Al shows emission at 1.525 µm similar in intensity to the Er-doped Si/SiO 2 . The spectral shape for the 4 I 13/2 → 4 I 15/2 emission is broader than for an analogous Er 3+ doped Si/SiO 2 . The smaller quantity of Al configuration increases the solubility of Nd 3+ (and luminescence for high Nd 3+ concentration) in Si/SiO 2 films and changes the spectral shape of the 4 F 3/2 emission with respect to the Nd 3+ doped Si/SiO 2 films. EXPERIMENTALEr and Nd doped Si/SiO 2 , Si/Al/SiO 2 , and Nd doped Si/Al 2 O 3 /SiO 2 films were prepared by rf co-F10.4.1 Mater. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Vol. 832