Photoluminescence from Er-doped silicon oxide microcavities

✍ Scribed by A. Hryciw; C. Blois; A. Meldrum; T. Clement; R. DeCorby; Quan Li

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 274 KB
• Volume: 28
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0925-3467
• DOI: 10.1016/j.optmat.2005.09.063

✦ Synopsis

Er-doped silicon oxide (SiO:Er) thin films with Er concentrations ranging from 0.04 to $2.5 at.% were deposited on SiO 2 and Si substrates by co-evaporation of SiO and Er 2 O 3 under high vacuum. Electron energy filtered imaging and elemental mapping confirm the presence of amorphous Si nanoclusters surrounded by a SiO 2 matrix. Steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence indicate that the 1.54 lm emission is highest for a 0.20-at.%-Er specimen annealed at 500 °C in 95% N 2 + 5% H 2 , yielding effective excitation cross-sections in the range of 10 À16 cm 2 for 476 nm excitation. To narrow and tune the Er emission, we have incorporated SiO:Er into planar microcavities with metal mirrors. The low thermal processing temperatures permitted the demonstration of simple-to-fabricate optical microcavities with intensified and directional emission in the 1480-1610 nm range.