CORRELATION BETWEEN VISIBLE AND INFRARED (1.54 MU-M) LUMINESCENCE FROM ER-IMPLANTED POROUS SILICON

A photoluminescence excitation (PLE) study was performed of Er-implant ed porous Si with two different porosities. Erbium was implanted at a dose of 1x10(15) cm(-2) at 380 keV and the samples were annealed for 3 0 min at temperatures from 650 to 850 degrees C. We observed that PLE spectra from Er3+ at 1.54 mu m are nearly identical to those from the visible-emitting porous Si layers. Our results provide the first direc t experimental evidence that infrared photoluminescence at 1.54 mu m a rises from Er3+ ions in porous Si and that ions are excited through th e recombination of excess carriers spatially confined in Si nanograms. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.