Improved luminescence properties of pulsed laser deposited Eu:Y2O3thin films on diamond coated silicon substrates

Europium activated yttrium oxide $({\mathrm{Eu:Y}}_{\mathrm{2}}{\mathrm{O}}_{\mathrm{3}})$ phosphor films have been grown in situ on (100) bare and diamond-coated silicon substrates using a pulsed laser deposition technique. Diamond-coated silicon substrates were prepared using hot filament chemical vapor deposition of diamond onto silicon. Photoluminescence brightness from ${\mathrm{Eu:Y}}_{\mathrm{2}}{\mathrm{O}}_{\mathrm{3}}$ films grown at 700 °C on diamond-coated silicon substrates was about twice that of films on bare silicon, and reached 80% of the brightness of powders. The higher brightness from ${\mathrm{Eu:Y}}_{\mathrm{2}}{\mathrm{O}}_{\mathrm{3}}$ film on diamond-coated silicon substrates is attributed to reduced internal reflections from the ${\mathrm{Eu:Y}}_{\mathrm{2}}{\mathrm{O}}_{\mathrm{3}}$ film surface, which results from the roughness of the diamond layer.