Influence of the magnetron power on the Er‐related photoluminescence of AlN:Er films prepared by magnetron sputtering

Abstract

The effect of magnetron power on the room temperature 1.54 μm infra-red photoluminescence intensity of erbium doped AlN films grown by r. f. magnetron sputtering, has been studied. The AlN:Er thin films were deposited on (001) Silicon substrates. The study presents relative photoluminescence intensities of nanocrystallized samples prepared with identical sputtering parameters for two erbium doping levels (0.5 and 1.5 atomic %). The structural evolution of the crystallites as a function of the power is followed by transmission electron microscopy.

Room temperature cathodoluminescence quenching of Er3+ in AlNOEr

“…Integration was performed either on the whole studied range, or by selecting regions including some of the most emissive peaks, or by selecting also peaks composed of a unique transition. The regions 400 nm -434 nm, 470 nm -490 nm and 650 nm -700 nm correspond to single transitions 4 The concentration quenching of RE (RE) doped silica is often attributed to the agglomeration of RE ions in RE-rich nanodomains [1]. Our results and other published works [10] suggest that aluminum nitride does not behave in a similar way to silica.…”

“…The slope and the determination coefficient R of the basic regression analysis performed on the 4 distribution of points are compiled in Table 2. Except from the region 470 nm -490 nm which is one of the most intense emissions, s is either 6, 8 or 10 (with a satisfying coefficient R above 80%) leading to a dipole-dipole interaction for the 4…”

“…2. Elaboration and structural characterizations of samples 4 The AlNOEr samples are 500 nm thick films deposited on silicon substrates by R.F. reactive magnetron sputtering.…”

“…reactive magnetron sputtering. Complete information on the synthesis process and the growth modes of the samples can be found in [2][3][4]. The resulting samples are polygranular, exhibiting a columnar morphology with an average grain width of 20-30 nm as shown on the Conventional Transmission Electron Microscopy (CTEM) image, Fig.…”

Erbium location into AlN films as probed by spatial resolution experimental techniques

“…The temperature quenching of the optical centres emission is known to be smaller in wide band gap semiconductors. This is why, AlN, with its theoretical 6,2 eV band gap, is one of the most interesting matrices to study the incorporation of erbium and other rare earths emitting in the whole visible spectrum up to the ultra-violet region [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23].…”