Silicon nanocrystals and Er3+ ions in an optical microcavity

Abstract

The characteristics of Si nanocrystals (nc) and Er-doped Si nc embedded within Si/SiO2 Fabry–Perot microcavities are investigated. It is shown that very narrow (Δλ∼1.5 nm) and intense luminescence peaks can be obtained within the 600–1000 nm wavelength range for Si nc and at around 1.54 μm for Er-doped Si nc by properly varying the cavity resonance. The luminescence intensity of the on-axis emission is over an order of magnitude above that of similar samples without a cavity and the overall luminescence is confined within a 30° cone from the sample normal. The properties of these cavities are presented and the implications of the results discussed.

Efficient light emitting diodes based on nanoscale silicon

“…This concept has been also demonstrated for Si based light emitting devices, but mostly for optical excitation [21,22] (photoluminescence), apart from a porous-Si diode operated with a relatively high driving voltage [4]. We present here an electrically pumped resonant-cavity LED, which is based on the above Si pn diodes.…”

Characterization of Si Nanocrystals

“…It has been observed that the optical and electrical properties of amorphous Si nanoclusters and crystalline Si nanocrystals are quite different [24,25]. On the other hand, as shown in Figure 21.7, transition from amorphous to crystalline form is gradual; therefore, quantification of crystalline volume fraction is significant to understand the properties of Si nanocrystals.…”

Si-based erbium-doped light-emitting devices

“…where W is the detection angle, l the resonance wavelength, l 0 the resonance wavelength at 01 and n the refractive index of the active medium [18]. The experimental data can be well fitted by Eq.…”