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Updated: Mar 11, 2026

Low-energy Cathodoluminescence for OxyNitride Phosphors
Published on: November 15, 2016
Super-enhancement of 1.54 μm emission from erbium codoped with oxygen in silicon-on-insulator
M A Lourenço1,2, M M Milošević2, A Gorin2
1Materials Research Institute and School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, E1 4NS London, UK.
Abstract:
We report on the super enhancement of the 1.54 μm Er emission in erbium doped silicon-on-insulator when codoped with oxygen at a ratio of 1:1. This is attributed to a more favourable crystal field splitting in the substitutional tetrahedral site favoured for the singly coordinated case. The results on these carefully matched implant profiles show that optical response is highly determined by the amount and ratio of erbium and oxygen present in the sample and ratios of O:Er greater than unity are severely detrimental to the Er emission. The most efficient luminescence is forty times higher than in silicon-on-insulator implanted with Er only. This super enhancement now offers a realistic route not only for optical communication applications but also for the implementation of silicon photonic integrated circuits for sensing, biomedical instrumentation and quantum communication.
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