Results obtained in an experimental study of spontaneous emission from erbium ions in a spectral range corresponding to the lower photonic band edge of distributed Bragg reflectors (1D photonic crystals) are presented. The photonic crystals were constituted of alternating quarter-wave a -Si:H and a -SiO x :H layers grown by PECVD. Erbium was introduced into the a -Si:H layers by magnetron sputtering of an erbium target in the course of structure growth. The change observed in the intensity of spontaneous emission is due to the nonmonotonic behavior of the density of optical modes near the photonic band edge.
Results obtained in an experimental study of spontaneous emission from erbium ions in a spectral range corresponding to the lower photonic band edge of distributed Bragg reflectors (1D photonic crystals) are presented. The photonic crystals were constituted of alternating quarter-wave a -Si:H and a -SiO x :H layers grown by PECVD. Erbium was introduced into the a -Si:H layers by magnetron sputtering of an erbium target in the course of structure growth. The change observed in the intensity of spontaneous emission is due to the nonmonotonic behavior of the density of optical modes near the photonic band edge.
Photonic crystals, i.e. materials that have a periodic variation in refractive index, form an interesting new class of materials that can be used to modify spontaneous emission and manipulate optical modes in ways that were impossible so far. This thesis is divided in three parts. \nPart I discusses the design and fabrication of two-dimensional photonic crystals in silicon using deep anisotropic etching with a SF6/O2 plasma. The etching process was optimized for the fabrication of two-dimensional photonic crystals by tuning the main parameters of the etching process, i.e. temperature, bias voltage and O2 flow. Vertical confinement in these structures is provided by integrating the structures in a dielectric waveguide. For this purpose, amorphous silicon, silicon-on-insulator and SiGe structures were considered. Fabrication of structures in both amorphous silicon and silicon-on-insulator was successfully demonstrated. The incorporation of luminescent species, such as laser dyes, was demonstrated using a new wet chemical coating technique that forms thin silica layers on a substrate.\nPart II discusses the modification of spontaneous emission in one dimensional systems by studying the decay rate of luminescing Cr ions close to a dielectric interface. The decay rate of the Cr ions can be changed by bringing the samples into contact with a range of liquids with different refractive indices. The change in radiative decay rate can be calculated by calculating the local density of states. To explain the experimental results additional non-radiative decay channels have to be introduced and yields a quantum efficiency of ~50% for the Cr R-line luminescence. This concept was further extended to a thin silica layer on silicon implanted with erbium ions and resulted in the radiative rate of erbium in pure silica: 54 s-1. This number was used to analyze the decay rate of erbium ions in silica colloidal spheres that can be used as building block for three-dimensional photonic crystals by self-assembly.\nFinally, Part III discusses the optical properties and modified spontaneous emission from a three-dimensional silicon photonic crystal of finite (5-layers) thickness. The crystals are made in a layer-by-layer approach using lithographic tools and show near 100% reflection in the 1.4-1.7 mu m wavelength range indicative of a photonic stopgap. A direct comparison with the calculated reflectivity reveals that some features in the reflectivity can be ascribed to the finite thickness of the crystal, while other features can be explained in terms of a superstructure that leads to zone folding of the photonic bandstructure. The collected spontaneous emission from erbium implanted crystals is strongly reduced for wavelengths in the stopgap from 1.4-1.7 mu m. The changes in collected luminescence intensity are explained in terms of a rate equation model that takes into account the effect of Bragg scattering, the local density of states and the quantum efficiency of the emitters inside the crystal. Using this model a spectral attenuation of 5 dB per unit cell at 1.539 mu m wavelength is obtained from the experimental data, which is in perfect agreement with existing theory and transmission 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.
We report a strong increase in the intensity of spontaneous emission from erbium ions embedded into an active layer of amorphous silicon oxide (a-SiO x ) in a planar microcavity based on a-Si:H/a-SiO x layers. Using eigenmodes of this microcavity both for excitation (pumping) and for the extraction of photoluminescence, it is possible to increase the spontaneous emission intensity from erbium ions by a factor of about 500 as compared to the photoluminescence from a single doped a-SiO x (Er) film.
Erbium is a rare-earth metal that, when incorporated in a solid, can emit light at a wavelength of 1.5 μm. It plays a key role in current day telecommunication technology as the principle ingredient of optical fiber amplifiers. In this thesis the control of the Er spontaneous emission in three different types of microphotonic materials is described. Part I of this thesis focuses on the effect of a metallo-dielectric interface on the spontaneous emission of optical emitters in silica glass. It is shown that Er ions near a Ag interface can couple to surface plasmons (SPs) via a near-field interaction. By coupling SPs out into the far field, large changes in the Er photoluminescence emission distribution, spectra, and polarization can be observed. The excitation of SPs also results in an increase of the Er photoluminescence decay rate. The observed decay rates are in good agreement with calculations based on a classical dipole oscillator model. From the change in photoluminescence decay rate of Si nanocrystals near a Ag interface it is shown that Si nanocrystals can efficiently excite SPs and have an internal quantum efficiency of 77 %. Part II focuses on the effect of a microcavity on the spontaneous emission of Er and describes how ion implantation can be used to dope dielectric microresonators with optically active Er ions. The fabrication and characterization of an Er ion-implanted silica microsphere resonator is described that shows lasing at 1.5 μm when pumped above its lasing threshold. Ion implantation is also used to dope toroidal microcavities on a Si chip with Er. The microtoroids are doped by either pre-implantation into the SiO2 base material, or by post-implantation in a fully fabricated microtoroid. The optical activation of Er ions in the microtoroid is investigated and Er lasing at 1.5 μm is observed for both types of microcavities with the lowest threshold (4.5 μW) for the pre-implanted microtoroids. Part III describes the fabrication of an Er-doped Si-inverse opal photonic crystal. These photonic crystals can potentially have a photonic bandgap that can fully inhibit the spontaneous emission of on optical emitter. Fabrication criteria are derived for such a photonic crystal, based on the lattice parameter, filling fraction, and Si refractive index. In the opal photonic crystal composed of both Si and SiO2 we show that Er ions can be selectively excited in both the Si and SiO2 part of the photonic crystal by changing the excitation wavelength and/or the measurement temperature.
In this thesis I consider tuning of the optical response of a one-dimensional\nphotonic crystal. The optical response is represented by (a) re\nectance and\n(b) spontaneous emission. In both cases the photonic crystal is constituted\nfrom alternating silicon (Si) and silica (SiO2) layers. The density of free\ncarriers in the Si layers is modulated at a level of 1019=cm3, the wavelength\nof light being xed at 1:54m.\n(a) I calculate the tuning of re\nectance of a one-dimensional photonic\ncrystal (PC) by means of charge injection. The PC is constituted from highly\ndoped Si layers alternating with SiO2 layers. The wavelength of the light is\nassumed to be the important communications wavelength of 1:54m. A\nrealistic calculation shows that sensitive tuning, and switching as well, can\nbe achieved for an impurity density 1019=cm3 even for superlattices (SLs)\nonly a few periods long. The re\nectance results are satisfactorily interpreted\nin terms of photonic band (PB) structure calculations.\n(b) If the modal density available to an excited atom is varied on the time\nscale of its lifetime, then we can expect the natural process of spontaneous\nemission (SE) to become dynamically manipulable. I consider various experimental\npossibilities and focus on an atom embedded in a PC designed to\nhave a band edge in the vicinity of the frequency of the emitted light. Specifically,\nI calculate the rate of SE by erbium ions (radiating at the wavelength\n1:54m) implanted in a one-dimensional Si/SiO2 PC. The semiconductor\nlayers are assumed to be strongly doped; by tuning the impurity density the\nfree carrier concentration changes and the PBs shift. As a result, the SE rate\nexhibits signicant dependency on the level of charge injection. The body of\nthe thesis consists of two papers, corresponding to (a) and (b) above.\nOne of these has been already accepted for publication, while the other\nhas been submitted for publication. Their preprints are enclosed at the end\nof the thesis.
Localized fields in the defect mode of one-dimensional photonic crystals with active impurity are studied with the help of the theory of spontaneous emission from two-level atoms embedded in photonic crystals. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the enhancement of stimulated radiation, as well as the phenomena of transmissivity larger than unity and the abnormality of group velocity close to the edges of photonic band gap, are related to the negative imaginary part of the complex effective refractive index of doped layers. This means that the complex effective refractive index has a negative imaginary part, and that the impurity state with very high quality factor and great state density will occur in the photonic forbidden band if active impurity is introduced into the defect layer properly. Therefore, the spontaneous emission can be enhanced, the amplitude of stimulated emission will be very large and it occurs most probably close to the edges of photonic band gap with the fundamental reason, the group velocity close to the edges of band gap is very small or abnormal. OCIS codes: 130.3120, 120.7000, 160.4670, 120.4570, 160.5690, 230.4170. More and more importance has been attached to the unique behaviors of electromagnetic wave propagating in photonic crystals, a novel and artificial photonic mate-