Room temperature photoluminescence from erbium-doped silica thin films prepared by cosputtering

Abstract The Er 3+ ions were dispersed in silica matrix by rf magnetron cosputtering of silica and erbium oxide. Photoluminescence of Er 3+ centered at 1.534 μ m has been detected at room temperature as excited by a Nd-YAG laser line at 1.064 μ m. The photoluminescence intensity is proportional to the annealing temperature. We believe that it is due to more radiative centers reaching Er 3+ upon annealing. Besides the main peak at 1.534 μ m, an additional peak at 1.522 μ m was observed, which is considered to result from the Raman response of surface hydrogen bonds.