Spatially correlated erbium and Si nanocrystals in coimplanted SiO2 after a single high temperature anneal

We present a study of silicon (Si) and erbium (Er) coimplanted silica (SiO2) in which we observe, by combining high resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy and selective electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), a high spatial correlation between silicon nanocrystals (Si-NCs), Er, and oxygen (O) after a single high temperature (1100 °C) anneal. The observation of a spatial overlap of the EELS chemical maps of dark field (DF) images at the Er N4,5, Si L2,3, and O K edges is concomitant with an intense room temperature infrared luminescence around 1534 nm. We suggest that these observations correspond to Er–O complexes within an amorphous silicon (a-Si) shell at the Si-NC/SiO2 interface. The presence of a crystalline phase at the Si-NC center, verified by high resolution electron micrographs and DF diffraction contrast images and the low solubility of Er in crystalline Si (c-Si) would tend to suggest a preferential Er agglomeration toward the Si-NC/SiO2 interface during formation, particularly when high concentrations of both Si and Er are obtained in a narrow region of the SiO2 after coimplantation. The absence of narrow Stark related features in the Er emission spectrum at low temperature and an inhomogeneous broadening with increasing temperature, which are characteristic of Er confined by an amorphous, rather than a crystalline host further support these hypotheses. After comparing the luminescence to that from a SiO2:Er control sample prepared in exactly the same manner but without Si-NCs, we find that, despite the observed spatial correlation, only a small fraction (∼7%) of the Er are sensitized by the Si-NCs. We ascribe this low fraction to a combination of low sensitizer (Si-NC) density and Auger-type losses arising principally from Er ion-ion interactions.