Submicrosecond fluorescence dynamics in erbium-doped silicon-rich silicon oxide multilayers

Abstract

The energy transfer process between amorphous silicon nanoparticles and erbium ions in Er-doped silicon-rich silicon oxide is investigated by fluorescence dynamics measurements. A fast decay is observed in the wavelength range of the radiative relaxation of erbium excited ions at 1.53 μm. Alternatively to a previous interpretation, we assign this fast decay to emission of deep traps induced by Si-based sensitizers of Er3+ ions, which emit in the visible and the infrared region.