Optical Activity at 1.55 micron in Si:Er:O Deposited Films

Abstract

Silicon films doped with Er and O were prepared by techniques of physical vapor deposition on crystalline silicon, ion beam mixing and oxygen incorporation through Ar+ and O2+ implantation, and thermal annealing. Processing steps were tailored to be compatible with standard CMOS and to be of notably low cost to fabricate optically active media for silicon-based infrared emitters. The Si:Er:O films exhibit strong photoluminescence at room temperature that is analogous to Stark-split Er+3 ion 1.55-micron bands in fiber-optic materials. Concentration distributions were determined by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry. It is found that photoluminescence signals increase with the O to Er ratio. Ion implantation effectively enhances the thermal diffusion of Er and improves its optical activation.