Photoluminescence at 1.5 /spl mu/m of heavily Er-doped insulating films on Si

Abstract

A comparison of the photoluminescence (PL) properties of Er-doped SiO/sub 2/, soda-lime glass, and ZBLAN glass films fabricated by pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) is given. The PL yield depends strongly on the host material. Under identical growth conditions and the same erbium concentrations in the targets, films deposited from the soda lime and ZBLAN glass show more than an order of magnitude higher luminescence yield. This enhancement is attributed to a higher concentration of optically active erbium in the multicomponent glass environment. Temperature quenching of the PL yield is observed for SiO/sub 2/:Er. The PL yield of soda-lime glass:Er and ZBLAN:Er increases with increasing temperature. A room temperature external quantum efficiency of 2/spl times/10/sup -4/ was obtained for Er-doped soda-lime glass.