Pulsed laser deposition of pure and praseodymium-doped Ge-Ga-Se amorphous chalcogenide films

Pure and praseodymium-doped thin films of Ge30Ga5Se65 amorphous system were prepared by the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. The composition o f the prepared films was close to the composition of the used targets of bu lk chalcogenide glass. The structure of the prepared films was also close t o that of the targets as shown by the Raman spectra, The annealing of films shifted the position of the absorption edge to higher energies, which is e xplained by chemical homogenization of the films due to interaction of frag ments of the evaporated material. Two luminescence bands near 1340 and 1610 nm were observed in the emission spectra of praseodymium-doped Ge-Ga-Se th in films. They were assigned to the radiative transitions between discrete energy levels of Pr3+ ions, (1)G(4)-H-3(5) and F-3(3)-H-3(4), respectively. The luminescence intensity of ablated films was lower than that of bulk gl asses. It increased after annealing of the films. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.