Europium-doped sesquioxide thin films grown on sapphire by PLD

This paper focuses on the preparation and characterization of crystalline thin films of rare-earth-doped sesquioxides (Y2O3, Lu2O3,and Sc2O3) grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on single-crystal (0 0 0 1) sapphire substrates. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements show that the films with thicknesses between 1 and 500 nm were highly textured along the [1 1 1] direction. Using Rutherford backscattering (RBS) analysis the correct stoichiometric composition of the films could be proved. The emission and excitation spectra of the europium-doped films down to a thickness of 100 nm look similar to those of the corresponding crystalline bulk material, whereas films with 20 nm thickness and below show a completely different emission behavior.