HIGH-INTENSITY LUMINESCENCE FROM PULSED-LASER ANNEALED EUROPIUM IMPLANTED SAPPHIRE

Sapphire samples (Al2O3) were implanted with 400-keV ions at a dose of 1 x 10(16) ions cm-2. A comparison was made between furnace annealing and pulsed laser annealing of the implanted samples. Furnace annealin g to 1200-degrees-C, followed by excimer laser anneals, resulted in an increase of the cathodoluminescence emission intensity of the implant ed europium by a factor of approximately 20. This enhanced intensity i s approximately 50 times that of the signal prior to any form annealin g treatment. It is proposed that the laser anneals dissociate Eu relat ed clusters. The Eu 622-nm lifetime reached 1.53 ms compared with an o riginal postimplant value of 0.14 ms. (C) 1994 American Institute of P hysics.