Luminescence of Nd-enriched silicon nanoparticle glasses

Abstract We report on the luminescence of amorphous silicon nanocomposites doped with neodymium. Effective non-resonantly pumped emission from the neodymium ions can occur for specimens made at processing temperatures as low as 300 °C for compositions close to SiO. We discuss the emission intensities of the most important Nd transitions at wavelengths of ∼800, ∼900, ∼1060, and ∼1350 nm under non-resonant excitation (all these bands are crystal-field-split and are therefore broad). The Nd emission bands show only a weak quenching effect as a function of temperature. The results indicate that amorphous silicon nanoclusters are excellent sensitizers for the main Nd optical transitions and offer additional advantages associated with a lower-temperature fabrication procedure. Finally, we discuss optical microcavity structures containing Nd ions and silicon nanoclusters.