De-excitation mechanisms of Er3+ in Er-doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon prepared by electron cyclotron resonance plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Abstract The de-excitation mechanisms of Er 3+ in Er-doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon prepared by electron cyclotron resonance plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of SiH 4 and concurrent sputtering of Er is investigated. As the temperature is raised from 25 to 288 K, the Er 3+ luminescence intensity decreases by a factor of 3 as does its decay time, indicating that activation of non-radiative decay paths for excited Er 3+ ions dominates the thermal quenching of Er 3+ luminescence. Based on the analysis of the temperature dependence of the Er 3+ luminescence decay time, we identify interaction with the defect state near the midgap as the possible back-transfer channel.