Optical and structural properties of laser annealed Er-doped amorphous silicon thin films

Er-doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-SiEr:H) thin films were deposite d by cosputtering. After deposition, the samples were submitted to annealin g treatments employing Ar+ and Nd-YAG lasers. Thermal anneals in a temperat ure-controlled furnace were also performed for comparison purposes. Photolu minescence, optical absorption in the infrared energy region, and Raman spe ctroscopies were carried out after each annealing treatment. Based on the e xperimental data, some mechanisms associated with the different annealing p rocedures and Er3+ ion excitation are proposed and discussed. (C) 1999 Amer ican Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(99)03113-8].