De-excitation mechanisms of Er3+ in Er-doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon prepared by electron cyclotron resonance plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

The de-excitation mechanisms of Er3+ in Er-doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon prepared by electron cyclotron resonance plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition of SiH4 and concurrent sputtering of Er is investigated. As the temperature is raised from 25 to 288 K, the Er3+ luminescence intensity decreases by a factor of 3 as does its decay time, indicating that activation of non-radiative decay paths for excited Er3+ ions dominates the thermal quenching of Er3+ luminescence. Based on the analysis of the temperature dependence of the Er3+ luminescence decay time, we identify interaction with the defect state near the midgap as the possible back-transfer channel.