Erbium luminescence in doped amorphous silicon

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Abstract
For the first time the observation of a sharp peak in the broad luminescence spectrum of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) has been achieved, using erbium as a dopant. Thus, a method of investigating the structure of solid-state systems which previously has only been used with crystals can now be applied to a-Si:H. The idea is to measure the splitting of the luminescence of ‘‘spy’’ atoms, or ions, by the crystal field of the host substance subject of investigation into which they are incorporated. Finding a suitable substance for use with a-Si:H has proven to be a difficult task, which we now have accomplished as a first step in establishing this method for the investigation of amorphous substances.