Electrochemical Er doping of porous silicon and its room-temperature luminescence at ∼1.54 μm

We present a new electro-chemical method for incorporating high concentration Er ions deep into porous silicon layers and its intense photoluminescence at ∼1.54 μm at room temperature. Porous silicon layers prepared by anodic etching of p-type silicon substrates in HF/H2O are immersed in ErCl3/ethanol solution. Then the negative bias relative to a counter platinum electrode is applied to the samples. Er3+ ions are drawn into fine pores of the porous silicon layers by the electric field. After thermal annealing at ∼1300 °C in an O2/Ar atmosphere, the samples show sharp and intense Er3+-related photoluminescence at ∼1.54 μm at room temperature upon excitation with an Ar ion laser.