Real-time synchrotoron radiation X-ray diffraction and abnormal temperature dependence of photoluminescence from erbium silicates on SiO2/Si substrates

The erbium silicate formation processes during annealing in Ar gas were monitored by synchrotron radiation grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD) in real time and the optical properties of the silicates were investigated by photoluminescence measurements in spectral and time-resolved domains. The GIXD measurements show that erbium silicates and erbium oxide are formed by interface reactions between silicon oxide and erbium oxides deposited on silicon oxide by reactive sputtering in Ar gas and O2/Ar mixture gas ambiences. The erbium silicates are formed above 1060 °C in Ar gas ambience and above 1010 °C in O2/Ar gas ambience, and erbium silicides are dominantly formed above 1250 °C. The I15/2-I13/2 Er3+ photoluminescence from the erbium oxide and erbium silicate exhibits abnormal temperature dependence, which can be explained by the phonon-assisted resonant absorption of the 532-nm excitation photons into the 2H11/2 levels of Er3+ ions of the erbium compounds.