Correlation between Si-related and erbium photoluminescence bands and determination of erbium effective excitation cross section in SiO2 films

Abstract

Er-doped SiOx (x∼1) films were prepared by electron gun evaporation. After thermal annealing at 1000°C, all samples showed a Si-related photoluminescence (PL) band at 920nm (1.3eV); the samples containing Er showed an Er PL band at 1530nm. The correlation between these two PL bands was studied by time decay measurements of the Si-related PL band. The lifetime of the Si-related PL band was reduced by Er doping. This reduction increased with increasing Er concentration. The Er effective excitation cross section in SiO2 films containing Si nanocrystals was estimated to be in the order of 10−16cm2 and showed a dependence on the Er concentration.