Influence of the substrate temperature and annealing on the 1.54-mu m erbium photoluminescence of a-Si : H films obtained using a glow discharge

Effective Er photoluminescence is observed at room temperature in a-Si:H fi lms doped with Er atoms through a gas phase using powdered Er(TMND)(3) as a source of Er ions. It is shown that the conditions for deposition of the f ilms and their subsequent annealing influence the photoluminescence intensi ty and its temperature dependence. The observed behavior is attributed to r estructuring of the amorphous silicon matrix within an Auger excitation mec hanism involving defects. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S1063-78 26(99)01102-3].