Electroluminescence from <inline-formula><math display="inline" overflow="scroll"><mrow><msup><mrow><mi>Er</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>3</mn><mo>+</mo></mrow></msup></mrow></math></inline-formula> incorporated into silicon oxide thin film on silicon in a scanning tunneling microscope

Abstract

Abstract. A scanning tunneling microscope (STM) with an electrically conductive and optically transparent probe was used to study electroluminescence induced by tunneling electrons from erbium oxide (Er 3 O 3 ) deposited on SiO 2 ∕Sið100Þ. Erbium was primarily incorporated into SiO 2 on silicon substrate to create impurities and overcome a high band gap. Subsequently, emissions of photons in the visible/near-infrared region, because of the excitation of higher Er states, are realized electrically without the need to apply high voltage. The STM-induced photon emission exhibits an asymmetric character with respect to the applied bias, which is explained by the direct recombination and impact ionization processes. The observed electroluminescence spectrum was decomposed to identify single inter-band transitions that could be related to erbium states. STM-induced electron emission measurements were also performed, revealing a band gap of around 2.8 eV. This corresponds to the x ¼ 0.91 rate factor of the SiO x layer created during the annealing process on silicon.

From embedded nanoislands to thin films: Topographic and optical properties of europium oxide on MgO(001) films

“…However, a number of promising experiments were recently reported in this respect, e.g., on the role of defects and lattice impurities on the optical characteristics of bare MgO 25 and ZnO, 26 as well as of Cr-doped MgO 27 and Er-doped SiO 2 . 28 In this work, we combine the imaging and spectroscopic abilities of STM to analyze the interplay between geometric and optical properties of MgO Eu at the local scale.…”