The effects of ambient oxygen pressure on the 1.54 μm photoluminescence of Er-doped silicon-rich silicon oxide films grown by laser ablation of a Si+Er target

We fabricated Er-doped silicon-rich silicon oxide (SRSO:Er) films by pulsed laser deposition. A Si+Er target consisting of an Er metallic strip and a silicon disk was adopted with a goal to achieve a convenient control of the Er and oxygen density in the film. We found that the photoluminescence (PL) at 1.54 μm is highly dependent on the ambient oxygen pressure, which determines the relative ratio of Si-Si, SiOx, and SiO2 phase in the film. The PL intensity increased drastically with increase in the annealing temperature and reached the maximum intensity at 500 °C.