D. Sotta et al., Confinement induced enhancement of the emission in Er-implanted Si/SiO2 quantum wells fabricated on SOI substrates, MAT SCI E B, 81(1-3), 2001, pp. 43-45
Single Si/SiO2 quantum wells were fabricated using silicon on insulator (SO
I) substrates, the upper barrier being a thin thermally oxidized Si layer.
Samples were Er and O implanted at low energy in order to center their conc
entration profile in the well, and then annealed. A bulk Si sample implante
d under the identical conditions was used as a reference. We present low te
mperature photoluminescence results using UV excitation in order to create
photogenerated carriers mainly in the Si well. We show that the 1.54-mum ph
otoluminescence is much more intense for Er in a well than for Er in implan
ted bulk silicon. We show that infrared emission occurs through an energy t
ransfer mechanism from Si to Er centers. Confinement prevents the escape of
photogenerated carriers towards the substrate and promotes energy transfer
towards optical active erbium center. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All r
ights reserved.