Sensitized superbroadband near-IR emission in bismuth glass/Si nanocrystal superlattices

Abstract

We show that sensitized superbroadband near-IR (NIR) emission in bismuth glass/Si nanocrystal superlattices can be realized. Photoluminescence is enhanced by 1 order of magnitude in this structure. We observed that the excitation wavelength dependence of the NIR emission does not show any distinct structure corresponding to the direct transition of bismuth IR-active centers. Our results suggest that the enhanced emission might result from the energy transfer from Si nanocrystals to IR-active bismuth. This structure may find broad applications for broadband amplifiers and broadly tunable laser sources.