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Applied Physics Letters

Absence of the enhanced intra-4f transition cross section at 1.5μm of Er3+ in Si-rich SiO2

Hans W. Mertens, Albert Polman, I. M. P. Aarts, W. M. M. Kessels, M. C. M. van de Sanden

Published Jun 8, 2005• 19 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present measurements of the optical absorption cross section of the I15∕24→I13∕24 transition at 1.5μm of Er3+ ions embedded in SiO2 and Si-rich oxide, using cavity ringdown spectroscopy on thin films. The peak absorption cross section for Er3+ embedded in Si-rich oxide (10at.% excess Si) was found to be (8±2)×10−21cm2 at 1536nm, similar to typical values for Er embedded in SiO2. The data imply that the silicon nanoclusters incorporated in Si-rich oxide do not enhance the peak cross section of the Er3+ I15∕24−I13∕24 transition by 1-2 orders of magnitude, contrary to what has been reported in earlier work.

DOI
10.1063/1.1949720

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Optical spectra and analysis of Er3+ in silicon with C, O, and N impurities

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Controlled Atomic-like Spontaneous Emission from Implanted Erbium in a Si/SiO2 Microcavity

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Since the advent of vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers, a renewed interest has also emerged for the spontaneous emission from Fabry-Pérot microcavities. Changes in spontaneous emission characteristics in a 1D microcavity were predicted long ago,1 but have been demonstrated only recently in the optical domain for solid-state, e.g. semiconductor, structures where changes in spectral purity, lifetime, and emission intensity were observed.2 However, the interpretation of these effects is somewhat obscure, because these structures are highly absorbing and often involve band-to-band, rather than atomic, transitions. In the present study, we use optically transparent Si/SiO2 cavities, consisting of two coplanar Si/SiO2 distributed Bragg reflectors (DBR) around a (λ/2) SiO2 active region, which was doped with ~0.2 at.% Er3+ ions through MeV ion implantation. The Er3+ ions in SiO2 exhibit a sharp, atomic-like, intra-4f transition around λem=1.54 μm, which is effectively shielded by the outerlying filled 5s2 and 5p6 shells. Recently, we reported on the considerable enhancement of the spontaneous emission intensity out of such an Er-doped microcavity.3 In this paper, we present a more detailed study of the modified spontaneous emission, including fluorescence decay measurements to study the effect of the cavity on the spontaneous emission rate.

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Epitaxial Er-doped Y2O3 on silicon for quantum coherent devices

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Rare-earth ions (REIs) have incomplete 4f shells and possess narrow optical intra-4f transitions due to shielding from electrons in the 5s and 5p orbitals, making them good candidates for solid-state optical quantum memory. The emission of Er3+ in the telecom C-band (1530 nm–1565 nm) makes it especially attractive for this application. In order to build practical, scalable devices, the REI needs to be embedded in a non-interacting host material, preferably one that can be integrated with silicon. In this paper, we show that Er3+ can be isovalently incorporated into epitaxial Y2O3 thin films on Si (111). We report on the synthesis of epitaxial, single-crystalline Er:Y2O3 on Si with a narrow inhomogeneous linewidth in the photoluminescence (PL) spectra, 5.1 GHz (<100 mK), and an optical excited state lifetime of 8.1 ms. The choice of Y2O3 was driven by its low nuclear spin and small lattice mismatch with Si. Using PL and electron paramagnetic resonance, we show that Er3+ substitutes for Y in the crystal lattice. The role of interfacial SiOx, diffusion of silicon into the film, and the effect of buffer layers on the inhomogeneous PL linewidth are examined. We also find that the linewidth decreased monotonically with film thickness but surprisingly exhibits no correlation with the film crystalline quality, as measured by the x-ray rocking curve scans, suggesting other factors at play that limit the inhomogeneous broadening in Y2O3 films.

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Absorption cross section for the 4 I 15/2 → 4 I 13/2 transition of Er3+ in Si:Er:O/SOI epitaxial layers

Konstantin E. Kudryavtsev, D. I. Kryzhkov, L. V. Krasilnikova +4 more

Optical losses caused by the interaction of radiation with optically active Er3+ ions in epitaxial waveguide structures Si:Er/SOI have been directly measured. The cross section for the 4 I 13/2 → 4 I 15/2 radiative transition in the Er3+ ion has been estimated as σ300 K ∼ 8 × 10−19 cm2 at T = 300 K and σ10 K ∼ 10−17 cm2 at T = 10 K.

Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics Letters•Feb 1, 2015•4 citations
We present measurements of the optical absorption cross section of the I15∕24→I13∕24 transition at 1.5μm of Er3+ ions embedded in SiO2 and Si-rich oxide, using cavity ringdown spectroscopy on thin films. The peak absorption cross section for Er3+ embedded in Si-rich oxide (10at.% excess Si) was found to be (8±2)×10−21cm2 at 1536nm, similar to typical values for Er embedded in SiO2. The data imply that the silicon nanoclusters incorporated in Si-rich oxide do not enhance the peak cross section of the Er3+ I15∕24−I13∕24 transition by 1-2 orders of magnitude, contrary to what has been reported in earlier work.
Absorption coefficient (αabs) of Er3+ ions coupled to Si nanoclusters (Si-nc) in SiO2 has been determined by optical transmission measurements in rib-loaded waveguides characterized by different refractive indices, thus gauging an Er3+ absorption cross section (σabs) of 0.4–1.2×10−20cm2 at 1534nm. Although no significant enhancement due to the presence of Si-nc was observed, a clear dependence on the refractive index has been found. Measurements of the decay lifetime permit one to model the behavior as due to both local and mean field variations caused by the composite nature of the core waveguide layer.
Photoluminescence (PL) spectra of Er3+ in an Er-doped silicon film were recorded at 2 and 77 K over the wavelength range from 1.52 to 1.68 μm, which includes optical transitions between the Er3+ I13/24 and I15/24 manifolds. These spectra were then analyzed to determine the nature of the electrostatic field at the site of the Er ion that governs the ion’s optical behavior. The PL spectra were analyzed three different ways: by considering the Er3+ ions to be occupying sites of Td, C3, or D2d point group symmetry. Transition energies and magnetic dipole transition probabilities were calculated for each case by diagonalizing a Hamiltonian representing the free-ion and crystal-field interactions in a Russell–Saunders basis of states spanning the lowest 15 J multiplets of the 4f11 electronic configuration of Er3+. Crystal-field parameters were varied in each case to find the best agreement with the experiment. Our results showed that the site symmetry of the Er3+ ions most consistent with the data is D2d. For this case, the rms deviation between the experimental and calculated energy levels is 3.3 cm−1 with the calculated magnetic dipole transition probabilities in qualitative agreement with the experiment.
Spherical SiO2 colloids with two different diameters (175 nm, 340 nm) were doped with erbium at different concentrations. The spheres show sharply peaked photoluminescence centered at 1.535 μm, due to intra-4f transitions in Er3+. From measurements of the Er decay rate for different Er concentrations the decay rate of isolated Er ions (i.e., in absence of concentration quenching) was determined for the two colloid diameters. The data were compared to spontaneous emission rates derived from calculations of the local optical density of states in the colloids. The calculation predicts a large difference in the spontaneous emission rate for both colloid sizes (61 vs 40 s−1), in perfect agreement with the measured data.
Since the advent of vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers, a renewed interest has also emerged for the spontaneous emission from Fabry-Pérot microcavities. Changes in spontaneous emission characteristics in a 1D microcavity were predicted long ago,1 but have been demonstrated only recently in the optical domain for solid-state, e.g. semiconductor, structures where changes in spectral purity, lifetime, and emission intensity were observed.2 However, the interpretation of these effects is somewhat obscure, because these structures are highly absorbing and often involve band-to-band, rather than atomic, transitions. In the present study, we use optically transparent Si/SiO2 cavities, consisting of two coplanar Si/SiO2 distributed Bragg reflectors (DBR) around a (λ/2) SiO2 active region, which was doped with ~0.2 at.% Er3+ ions through MeV ion implantation. The Er3+ ions in SiO2 exhibit a sharp, atomic-like, intra-4f transition around λem=1.54 μm, which is effectively shielded by the outerlying filled 5s2 and 5p6 shells. Recently, we reported on the considerable enhancement of the spontaneous emission intensity out of such an Er-doped microcavity.3 In this paper, we present a more detailed study of the modified spontaneous emission, including fluorescence decay measurements to study the effect of the cavity on the spontaneous emission rate.
Rare-earth ions (REIs) have incomplete 4f shells and possess narrow optical intra-4f transitions due to shielding from electrons in the 5s and 5p orbitals, making them good candidates for solid-state optical quantum memory. The emission of Er3+ in the telecom C-band (1530 nm–1565 nm) makes it especially attractive for this application. In order to build practical, scalable devices, the REI needs to be embedded in a non-interacting host material, preferably one that can be integrated with silicon. In this paper, we show that Er3+ can be isovalently incorporated into epitaxial Y2O3 thin films on Si (111). We report on the synthesis of epitaxial, single-crystalline Er:Y2O3 on Si with a narrow inhomogeneous linewidth in the photoluminescence (PL) spectra, 5.1 GHz (<100 mK), and an optical excited state lifetime of 8.1 ms. The choice of Y2O3 was driven by its low nuclear spin and small lattice mismatch with Si. Using PL and electron paramagnetic resonance, we show that Er3+ substitutes for Y in the crystal lattice. The role of interfacial SiOx, diffusion of silicon into the film, and the effect of buffer layers on the inhomogeneous PL linewidth are examined. We also find that the linewidth decreased monotonically with film thickness but surprisingly exhibits no correlation with the film crystalline quality, as measured by the x-ray rocking curve scans, suggesting other factors at play that limit the inhomogeneous broadening in Y2O3 films.