Erbium in crystal silicon: Optical activation, excitation, and concentration limits

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Abstract
The optical activation, excitation, and concentration limits of erbium in crystal Si are studied. Preamorphized surface layers of Czochralski-grown (Cz) Si(100), containing 1.7×1018 O/cm3, were implanted with 250 keV Er at fluences in the range 8×1011–8×1014 cm−2. After thermal solid-phase epitaxy of the Er-doped amorphous layers at 600 °C, Er is trapped in the crystal at concentrations ranging from 3×1016 to 7×1019 Er/cm3, as measured by secondary-ion-mass spectrometry. Photoluminescence spectra taken at 77 K show the characteristic Er3+ intra-4f luminescence at 1.54 μm. Photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy shows that Er is excited through a photocarrier-mediated process. Rapid thermal annealing at 1000 °C for 15 s increases the luminescence intensity, mainly due to an increase in minority-carrier lifetime, which enhances the excitation efficiency. Luminescent Er forms clusters with oxygen: the maximum Er concentration that can be optically activated is determined by the O content, and is (3±1)×1017 Er/cm3 in Cz-Si. The internal quantum efficiency for electrical excitation of Er in Cz-Si is larger than 3×10−6.