Structure and photoluminescence of Nd:Y2O3 grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Crystalline yttrium oxide films have been grown on Si (0 0 1) and sapphire (0001) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy using molecular oxygen and thermal evaporation of yttrium. Neodymium doped films showed strong room temperature photoluminescence from the rare earth ions. The dependence of luminescence intensity on neodymium concentration was studied and a maximum was estimated to occur at 2 at.% assuming complete neodymium incorporation. The structural properties of the films were characterized using X-ray diffraction.