Er 3+ photoluminescence from Er-doped amorphous SiOx films prepared by pulsed laser deposition at room temperature: The effects of oxygen concentration

We have fabricated Er-doped amorphous SiOx films by laser ablation of a Si:Er2O3 target in He atmosphere. The photoluminescence intensity at 1.54 μm was highly dependent on the oxygen content in the film, which turned out to be changed significantly by the ambient He pressure. Also, we have adopted time-of-flight quadrupole mass spectroscopy to obtain kinetic energies of ionic species in a plume produced by laser ablation. Si and Er ions do not overlap spatially as they expand toward the Si substrate and Er ions impinge on the preformed SiOx layer.