The paper is a brief retrospective review of our contribution to the Si:Er problem in the last decade. It contains a description of the experimental facilities, results of the light emitting media (Si:Er and Si1-xGex:Er) research and device applications.

We report on the visible and infrared emission characteristics of Er-doped III-N lightemitting diodes (LEDs). Quantum well-like device structures were grown through a combination of metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on cplane sapphire substrates. The dual stage growth process was used to take advantage of the high quality of AlGaN layers produced by MOCVD and in situ doping of Er during MBE growth. The multilayer structures were processed into devices and LEDs with different sizes and geometric shapes were produced. Electroluminescence (EL) was observed under either forward or reverse bias conditions. Visible and infrared spectra displayed narrow emission lines representative of the Er3+ system. The temperature dependence of the spectra, which were measured from 100K to 300K, showed a stability in the visible emission intensity but a sharp decrease in the infrared intensity at room temperature. Based on light output vs current measurements, estimates of the excitation cross-section were obtained for visible EL emission.

Using ion implantation different rare earth luminescent centers (Gd3+, Tb3+, Eu3+, Ce3+, Tm3+, Er3+) were incorporated into the silicon dioxide layer of a purpose-designed Metal Oxide Silicon (MOS) capacitor with advanced electrical performance, further called a MOS-light emitting device (MOSLED). The silicon dioxide layer did not contain silicon nanoclusters. Efficient electroluminescence was obtained from UV to infrared with a transparent top electrode made of indium-tin oxide. The electroluminescence properties were studied with respect to the luminescence spectra, decay time, impact excitation, cross relaxation (Tb3+), and power efficiency. Top values of the efficiency of 0.3 % corresponding to external quantum efficiencies well above the percent range were reached. The electrical properties of these devices such as current-voltage and charge trapping characteristics, were also evaluated. Moreover, we demonstrate photo- and electroluminescence in correlation to charge trapping characteristics for Er-rich MOSLEDs with a varying silicon cluster content. Finally, application aspects to the field of biosensing will be discussed.

Electroluminescence studies of MBE-grown Er/O-doped Si-diodes at reverse bias have been done. For some devices there is much reduced thermal quenching of the emission at 1.54 νm. There are examples where the temperature dependence is abnormal in that the intensity for a constant current even increases with temperature up to e.g. 80 °C. These devices have been studied with cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy to see the microstructure of the Er/O-doped layers as well as the B-doped SiGe-layers that are used as electron emitters during reverse bias. Although there are defects in the layers there is no evidence for large thick precipitates of SiO2. While reduced thermal quenching often is attributed to having the Er-ions within SiO2 layers, this is not the case for our structures as evidenced by our TEM-studies. The origin of the abnormal temperature dependence is attributed to the two mechanisms of breakdown in the reverse-biased diodes. At low temperature the breakdown current is mainly due to avalanche resulting in low-energy electrons and holes that quenches the intensity by Auger deexcitation of the Er-ions. At higher temperature the breakdown current is mainly phonon-assisted tunneling which results in a more efficient pumping with less de-excitation of the Er-ions. Finally at the highest temperatures the thermal quenching sets in corresponding to an activation energy of 125 meV, which is slightly lower than 150 meV that has been reported in other studies.

Superluminescent diodes (SLD) have great potential for application as light sources including optical gyroscopes and sensors, optical time domain reflectometers (OTDR) and wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) system testing. High output power and large spectral bandwidth are key features for SLD. High output power has been attempted by antireflection coating of the facet and utilizing the tapered active region. In addition, as the spectral width broadened, the coherence length is reduced. The short coherence length can reduce the Rayleigh backscattering in fiber gyroscope systems and can improve the spatial resolution in OTDR application. Therefore, broadening spectral width of SLD offers an advantage for obtaining the ultimate sensitivity in these applications.

The potential of Er-doped Cs2NaYF6 and GaN for mid-infrared emission at λ≈ 2.7 ν is investigated using time-resolved optical spectroscopy. This emission results from electronic transitions between the second (4I11/2) and first (4I13/2) excited states of the Er3+ ion. By recording the photoluminescence transients for the 4I11/2 → 4I15/2 and 4I13/2 → 4I15/2 transitions after pulsed excitation, we determine the lifetime of the 4I11/2 level and demonstrate that the 4I13/2 state is populated from this level. Our results indicate that both host lattices should enable 2.7 νm emission, which is temperature-stable but subject to concentration quenching.

The g values of rare earth ions obtained from either paramagnetic resonance or Zeeman measurements are often used to interpret the location and/or environment surrounding rare earth ions. In the case of centres with cubic symmetry the g value can be used to distinguish between substitutional and interstitial sites. For centres with less than cubic symmetry the average g value, taken as 1/3 trace of the g tensor, is often used as an indication of the lattice location and/or a measure of the strength of the local crystal field. This approach is widely used but is based on the assumption that the non-cubic terms in the total crystal field potential are small compared with the cubic crystal field. In this paper we have explored this assumption by calculating the principal g values in axial crystal fields for the Er3+ ion. We examine the limits over which the average g value approach is valid. Comparison is made with published results.

Carrier dynamics in Er,O-codoped GaAs (GaAs:Er,O) have been systematically investigated by means of a pump and probe reflection technique with a mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser. In GaAs:Er,O, it has been found that the codoping produces a single atom configuration (Er-20 configuration) as an Er atom located at the Ga sublattice with two adjacent O atoms together with two As atoms, resulting in extremely strong Er luminescence. Time-resolved reflectivity of GaAs:Er,O exhibited an abrupt increase in amplitude, followed by a steep decrease to negative in less than 1 ps and then a gradual increase in approximately 100 ps. The steep decrease is due to bandgap renormalization. The gradual increase in reflectivity depended strongly on Er concentration, indicating that a trap induced by Er and O codoping plays an important role in dynamics of nonequilibrium carriers in GaAs:Er,O.