Silicon oxynitride (SiON) films have been found to possess extremely useful properties for optical applications. In
optoelectronics, a major advantage of this material is the ability to tune the refractive index from 1.45 to 2.00,
allowing designers the flexibility to custom tailor and optimize the refractive index value in the targeted optical
device. In addition, its minimum allowable bending radius is much lower compared to other silica materials. This
opens up the possibility of miniaturizing integrated photonic systems. Moreover, silicon oxynitride prepared using
Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) can be deposited at high growth rates while exhibiting
good homogeneity with wide refractive index tuning range making it a well-suited core layer for planar waveguide
technologies and microphotonic devices. In this research work, the deposition process and the properties of SiON
are discussed. The obtained refractive index as well as the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis are
highlighted. Furthermore, FTIR results as a function of the process parameters are presented and their influence on
the film properties is discussed.
We report on the optical properties of erbium oxide thin films prepared by physical vapor deposition. The films were
subjected to various rapid thermal annealing (RTA) treatments. The best result was obtained for samples annealed at 500
°C, where the ramp rate was 200 °C/s, zero soak time, and a cooling rate of 25 °C/s. The average reflection from this
erbium oxide coated c-Si substrate, measured over a wavelength range of 300nm to 1100nm, is around 18% and 8%
before and after annealing, respectively. The average transmission of erbium oxide on glass is 50 % and 90 % before
and after annealing, respectively. Using this antireflection coating the short circuit current of a silicon base photovoltaic
device increases by more than 40 %.
We report on the room temperature photoluminescence (PL) at 1.54 μm from erbium-doped silicon rich silicon oxide
(ErSRSO) films, fabricated on fused quartz by thermal evaporation followed by thermal-annealing in air. PL
measurements show maximum intensity in samples annealed at 1000°C for four hours. X-ray diffraction (XRD)
structural analyses show that annealing caused the formation of active Er3+ (Er2O3) centers. XRD and PL results show
that increasing Er2O3 concentration does not necessarily lead to an increase in photoluminescence. Compositional
analysis using Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (TOF-SIMS) depth-profiling shows a strong
correlation between the presence of contiguous Si rich regions and Er2O3 centers on the one hand and the observed PL
on the other. The combination of PL, XRD, and TOF-SIMS results indicate the presence of silicon nanoclusters and its
sensitization of erbium.
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