Correlation between Er3+ emission and the microstructure of a-SiOx : H < Er > films

Photoluminescence (PL) from Er-implanted hydrogenated amorphous silicon suboxide (a-SiOX:H(x<2.0)) films was measured. Two luminescence bands with maxima at lambda congruent to 750 nm and lambda congruent to 1.54mum, ascribed to the a-SiOX:H intrinsic emission and Er3+ emission, were observed. Peak intensities of the two bands follow the same trend as a function of annealing temperature from 300 to 1000degreesC. Micro-Raman results indicate that the a-SiOX:H films are a mixture of two phases, an amorphous SiOX matrix and amorphous silicon (a-Si) domains embedded there in. FTIR spectra confirm that hydrogen effusion from a-SiOX:H films occurs during annealing. Hydrogen effusion leads to a reconstruction of the microstructure of a-Si domains, thus having a strong influence on Er3+ emission. Our study emphasizes the role of a-Si domains on Er3+ emission in a-SiOX:H films.

Effect of rapid thermal annealing on electron emission and DX centers in strained InGaAs/GaAs single quantum well laser diodes

nThermal processing of strained ln(0.2)Ga(0.8)As/GaAs graded-index separate confinement heterostructure single quantum well laser diodes grown by molecular beam epitaxy is investigated. It was found that rapid thermal annealing can improve the 77 K photoluminescence efficiency and electron emission from the active layer, due to removal of nonradiative centers from the InGaAs/GaAs interface. Because of the interdiffusion of Al and Ga atoms, rapid thermal annealing increases simultaneously the density of DX centers in the AlGaAs graded layer. The current stressing experiments of post-growth and annealed laser diodes are indicative of a corresponding increase in the concentration of DX centers, suggesting that DX centers may be responsible for the degradation of laser diode performance.

Photoluminescence of nanocrystalline SiC films prepared by rf magnetron sputtering

Amorphous Sic films are deposited on Si (111) substrates by rf magnetron sputtering and then annealed at 1200 degreesC for different times by a dc self-heating method in a vacuum annealing system. The crystallization of the amorphous Sic is determined by Raman scattering at room temperature and X-ray diffraction. The experimental result indicates that the Sic nanocrystals have formed in the films. The topography of the as-annealed films is characterized by atomic force microscopy. Measurements of photoluminescence of the as-annealed films show blue or violet light emission from the nanocrystalline Sic films and photoluminescence peak shifts to short wavelength side as the annealing time decreases.

Modification of emission wavelength of self-assembled In(Ga)As/GaAs quantum dots covered by InxGa1-xAs(0 <= x <= 0.3) layer

Red shifts of emission wavelength of self-organized In(Cla)As/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) covered by 3 nm thick InxGa1-xAs layer with three different In mole fractions (x = 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3, respectively) have been observed. Transmission electron microscopy images demonstrate that the stress along growth direction in the InAs dots was reduced due to introducing the InxGa1-xAs (x = 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3) covering layer instead of GaAs layer. Atomic force microscopy pictures show a smoother surface of InAs islands covered by an In0.2Ga0.8As layer. It is explained by the calculations that the redshifts of the photoluminescence (PL) spectra from the QDs covered by the InxGa1-xAs (x greater than or equal to 0.1) layers were mainly due to the reducing of the strain other than the InAs/GaAs intermixing in the InAs QDs. The temperature dependent PL spectra further confirm that the InGaAs covering layer can effectively suppress the temperature sensitivity of PL emissions. 1.3 mum emission wavelength with a very narrow linewidth of 19.2 mcV at room temperature has been obtained successfully from In,In0.5Ga0.5As/GaAs self-assembled QDs covered by a 3-nm In0.2Ga0.2As strain reducing layer. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Photoluminescence study on coarsening of self-assembled InAlAs quantum dots on GaAs (001)

Red-emission at similar to 640 nm from self-assembled In0.55Al0.45As/Al0.5Ga0.5As quantum dots grown on GaAs substrate by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) has been demonstrated. We obtained a double-peak structure of photoluminescence (PL) spectra from quantum dots. An atomic force micrograph (AFM) image for uncapped sample also shows a bimodal distribution of dot sizes. From the temperature and excitation intensity dependence of PL spectra, we found that the double-peak structure of PL spectra from quantum dots was strongly correlated to the two predominant quantum dot families. Taking into account quantum-size effect on the peak energy, we propose that the high (low) energy peak results from a smaller (larger) dot family, and this result is identical with the statistical distribution of dot lateral size from the AFM image.

Structure and properties of InAs/AlAs quantum dots for broadband emission

The InAs quantum dots (QDs) on an AlAs layer are grown on GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy technique. The properties of materials and optics of such QD structures have been investigated by cross sectional transmission electron microscopy and photoluminescence (PL) techniques. It is discovered that the inhomogeneous strain filed mainly exists below InAs QDs layers in the case of no wetting layer. The full width at half maximums (FWHMs) and intensities of PL emission peaks of InAs QDs are found to be closely related to the thickness of the thin AlAs layers. The InAs QDs on an eight monolayer AlAs layer, with wide FWHMs and large integral intensity of PL emission peaks, are favorable for producing broadband QD superluminescent diodes, external-cavity QD laser with large tuning range.

Photoluminescence character of Xe ion irradiated sapphire

In the present work the photoluminescence (PL) character of sapphire implanted with 180 keV Xe and irradiated with 308 MeV Xe ions was studied. The virgin, implanted and irradiated samples were investigated by PL and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra measurements. The obtained PL spectra showed the maximum emission bands at 2.75, 3.0 and 3.26 eV for the implanted fluence of 1.0 x 10(15) ions/cm(2) and at 2.4 and 3.47 eV for the irradiated fluence of 1.0 x 10(13) ions/cm(2). The FTIR spectra showed a broaden absorption band between 460 and 630 cm(-1), indicating that strong damaged region formed in Al2O3.

Effects of annealing on the photoluminescence of He ion implanted sapphire after 230-MeV Pb ion irradiation

Single crystal sapphire (Al2O3) samples implanted with 110 keV He and irradiated at 320 K by Pb-208(27), ions with energy of 1.1 MeV/u to the fluences ranging from 1 X 10(12) to 5 X 10(14) ion/cm(2) and subsequently annealed at 600, 900 and 1100 K. The obtained PL spectra showed that emission peaks centred at 375, 390, 413, and 450 nm appeared in irradiated samples. The peak of 390 ran became very intense after 600 K annealing. The peak of 390 nm weakened and 510 nm peak started to build up at 900 K annealing, the peak of 390 nm vanished and 510 nm peak increased with the annealing temperature rising to 1100 K. Infrared spectra showed a broadening of the absorption band between 460 cm(-1), and 510 cm(-1) indicating strongly damaged regions being formed in the Al2O3 samples and position shift of the absorption band at 1000-1300 cm(-1) towards higher wavenumber after Pb irradiation.

Enhanced photoluminescence of Ar+ implanted sapphire before and after annealing

In this paper, we studied the changes in the photoluminescence spectra of the Ar+ ion implanted monocrystalline sapphire annealed at different atmospheres and different temperatures. Single crystals of sapphire (Al2O3) with the (1 0 (1) over bar 0) (m-samples) orientation were implanted at 623 K with 110 keV Ar+ ions to a fluence of 9.5 x 10(16) ions/cm(2). Photoluminescence measurement of the as-implanted sample shows a new emission band at 506 nm, which is attributed to the production of interstitial Al atoms. The intensity of emission band at 506 nm first increased then decreased with increase in annealing temperature. For the same annealing temperature, the intensity of PL peak at 506 nm of the sample annealed in air was higher than the sample annealed in vacuum. The experimental results show that the intensity of the PL peak at 506 nm of Ar-implanted sapphire can be enhanced by subsequent annealing with an enhancement of nearly 20 times. The influence of thermal annealing of the Ar-implanted samples on the new 506 nm emission band was discussed. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An Efficient Nanocrystalline La2O3:Tm3+ Blue Phosphor for Field-Emission Displays with High Color Purity

Nanocrystalline Tm3+-doped La2O3 phosphors were prepared through a Pechini-type sol-gel process. X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, photoluminescence, and cathodoluminescence spectra were utilized to characterize the synthesized phosphors. Under the excitation of UV light (234 nm) and low-voltage electron beams (1-3 kV), the Tm3+-doped La2O3 phosphors show the characteristic emissions of Tm3+(D-1(2), (1)G(4)-F-3(4), H-3(6) transitions).

Blue-light emission of mesoporous SBA-15 covalently bonded with carbazole chromophore

Much attention has been paid to carbazole derivatives for their potential applications as optical materials. For the first time, the blue-light-emitting carbazole chromophore has been covalently bonded to the ordered mesoporous SBA-15 (The resultant hybrid mesoporous materials are denoted as carbazole-SBA-15) by co-condensation of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and prepared compound 3-[N-3-(triethoxyilyl)propyl]ureyl-9-ethyl-carbazole (denoted as carbazole-Si) in the presence of Pluronic P123 surfactant. The results of H-1 NMR and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) reveal that carbazole-Si has been successfully synthesized.

Near-infrared emission from novel tris(8-hydroxyquinolinate)lanthanide(III) complexes-functionalized mesoporous SBA-15

A novel mesoporous material covalently bonded with 8-hydroxyquinoline (HQ) was synthesized (designated as Q-SBA-15). The 5-formyl-8-hydroxyquinoline grafted to.(3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane, that is, alkoxysilane modified 8-hydroxyquinoline (Q-Si), was used as one of the precursors for the preparation of the Q-SBA-15 material. On the basis of the other function of the Q-Si of coordinating to lanthanide (Ln) ions, for the first time, the LnQ(3) complexes (Ln = Er, Nd, Yb) have been covalently bonded to the SBA-15 materials.

LaGaO3 : A (A=Sm3+ and/or Tb3+) as promising phosphors for field emission displays

LaGaO3:Sm3+, LaGaO3:Tb3+ and LaGaO3: Sm3+, Tb3+ phosphors were prepared through a Pechini-type sol-gel process. X-Ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, photoluminescence (PL), and cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy were utilized to characterize the synthesized phosphors. Under excitation with ultraviolet light (250-254 nm), the LaGaO3: Sm3+, LaGaO3: Tb3+ and LaGaO3: Sm3+, Tb3+ phosphors mainly show the characteristic broadband emission (from 300 to 600 nm with a maximum around 430 nm) of the LaGaO3 host lattice, accompanied by the weak emission of Sm3+ ((4)G(5/2) -> H-6(5/2), H-6(7/2), H-6(9/2) transitions) and/or Tb3+ (D-5(3,4) -> F-7(6,5,4,3) transitions). However, under excitation by low-voltage electron beams (1-3 kV), the LaGaO3: Sm3+, LaGaO3: Tb3+ and LaGaO3: Sm3+, Tb3+ phosphors exhibit exclusively the characteristic emissions of Sm3+ and/or Tb3+ with yellow (Sm3+), blue (Tb3+, with low concentrations) and white (Sm3+ + Tb3+) colors, respectively.

Bluish-white emission from radical carbonyl impurities in amorphous Al2O3 prepared via the Pechini-type sol-gel process

Many efforts have been devoted to exploring novel luminescent materials that do not contain expensive or toxic elements, or do not need mercury vapor plasma as the excitation source. In this paper, amorphous Al2O3 powder samples were prepared via the Pechini-type sol-gel process. The resulting samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), photoluminescence (PL) excitation and emission spectra, kinetic decay, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR).

Synthesis, photoluminescence, and theoretical studies of novel Cu(I) complex

A novel diimine Cu(I)complex [Cu(ABPQ)(DPEphos)]BF4 [ABPQ and DPEphos are acenaphtho[1,2-b]bipyrido[2,3-h:3,2-f]quinoxaline and bis(2-(diphenylphosphanyl)phenyl) ether, respectively] is synthesized, and its photophysical properties are experimentally and theoretically characterized. The emission bands centered at ca. 400/470 and 550 nm of [Cu(ABPQ)(DPEphos)]BF4 are attributed to the ligand-centered pi -> pi* transition and the metal-to-ligand charge transfer d pi(Cu) -> pi*(N-N) transition, respectively. The luminescence quantum yield of [Cu(ABPQ)(DPEphos)]BF4 in CHCl3 is found to be about five times higher than that of [Cu(Phen)(DPEphos)]BF4.