Photoluminescence from SiO2 films containing Si nanocrystals and Er: Effects of nanocrystalline size on the photoluminescence efficiency of Er3+

Abstract

SiO 2 films containing Si nanocrystals (nc-Si) and Er were prepared and their photoluminescence (PL) properties were studied. The samples exhibited PL peaks at 0.8 and 1.54 μm, which could be assigned to the electron-hole recombination in nc-Si and the intra-4f transition in Er3+, respectively. Correlation between the intensities of the two PL peaks was studied as functions of the size of nc-Si, Er concentration, excitation power and excitation wavelength. It was found that the 1.54 μm PL of Er3+ is strongly enhanced by incorporating nc-Si in films. Furthermore, the intensity of the 1.54 μm peak was found to depend strongly on the size of the incorporated nc-Si.

Erbium emission properties in nanostructured fibers

“…Over the past several decades considerable work has been carried out on the incorporation of rare-3 earth oxide nanocrystallites into different glass hosts. Different techniques have been developed such as co-sputtering [6], pyrolysis [7], ion implantation [8], laser ablation [9] and sol-gel processes [10]. Aside from the spectroscopic advantages of these routes, the issue of optical transmission imposes that particles be of enough small size to minimize light scattering to an acceptable value.…”

Luminescence from erbium oxide grown on silicon

“…The efficiency of luminescence emission associated to the intraionic Er3+ radiative transitions in different matrix is related to the mechanism of energy transfer from the hosts to the complexes formed by erbium and the surrounding atoms [1,2]. The presence of other codopant elements in the Er neighborhood as well as the structure of the host matrix was found essential in determining the Er complexes formation [3,4].…”

The Selective Growth of Silicon Nanowires and Their Optical Activation

“…The Er ion is excited in a high energy state and decays very rapidly in the first excited state ( 4 I 13/2 ). At this stage its energy is too small to be transferred back to the nc and the Er remains excited until the radiative emission occurs at 1.54 µm while the nc luminescence at around 800 nm is totally quenched (Kenyon et al, 1994;Fujii et al, 1997Fujii et al, , 1998Franzo` et al, 1999;Chryssou et al, 1999;Kenyon et al, 2000;Shin et al, 2000a;Franzo` et al, 2000;Kik et al, 2000, as cited in Priolo et al, 2001. Therefore in the presence of Er ions a transfer of the energy among Si nc is thought to be less probable (Priolo et al, 2001).…”