1.54 mu m Emission of pulsed-laser deposited Er-doped films on Si

We investigate the photoluminescence properties of Er-doped SiO2 and glass films fabricated by pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) for different deposition parameters and erbium host materials. The luminescence yield of SiO2 :Er fi lms increases strongly with increasing oxygen background pressure during la ser ablation. We compare SiO2 and soda-lime glass as host materials for erb ium ions. Under identical growth conditions and the same erbium concentrati ons in both targets, films deposited from the soda-lime glass show a much h igher luminescence yield. This enhancement is attributed to a higher concen tration of optically active erbium in the multicomponent glass environment. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.