Erbium-ytterbium co-doped aluminum oxide thin films: Co-sputtering deposition, photoluminescence, luminescent lifetime, energy transfer and quenching fraction

Erbium-ytterbium co-doped aluminium oxide (Al2O3:Er3+:Yb3+) thin films were deposited on thermally oxidized silicon wafers using reactive radio frequency co-sputtering deposition. The effects of deposition parameters (including oxygen flow rate, substrate temperature and substrate bias) were investigated to obtain low loss Al2O3 films (~0.15 dB/cm at 1550 nm). A set of singly- and co-doped Al2O3 films (surface roughness: ~144.8 p.m.) with …