Self-assembled infrared-luminescent Er–Si–O crystallites on silicon

Optically active and electrically excitable erbium complexes on silicon are made by wet-chemical synthesis. The single-crystalline Er–Si–O compound is formed by coating a Si(100) substrate with an ErCl3∕ethanol solution, followed by rapid thermal oxidation and annealing. Room-temperature Er-related 1.53μm photoluminescence is observed with a peak linewidth as small as 4meV. The complexes can be excited directly into the Er intra-4f states, or indirectly, through photocarriers. Er concentrations as high as 14at.% are achieved, incorporated in a crystalline lattice with a 0.9nm periodicity. Thermal quenching at room temperature is only a factor 5, and the lifetime at 1.535μm is 200μs.