Photoluminescence of Er3+-doped AlxGa1-x As native oxides

We propose a new approach for incorporating RE ions into Al-bearing III-V compound semiconductor systems such as AlGaAs by converting the RE-doped III-V crystal to its native oxide through the wet-thermal oxidation process. In such an approach, the RE-doped native oxide regions could ultimately be optically excited by a monolithically integrated semiconductor pump laser. We present the results of preliminary exploratory studies on the suitability of AlGaAs native oxides as a host for optically-active Er³⁺ ions. Room temperature, CW photoluminescence (PL) has been performed on various Al _xGa_1-xAs films doped with Er during crystal growth by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and subsequently thermally oxidized