Study of thermal treated a-Si implanted with Er and O ions

Abstract

Visible luminescence of amorphous silicon layers either implanted with Er or co-implanted with Er and O and subsequently annealed in nitrogen has been investigated by cathodoluminescence (CL) in a scanning electron microscope. Co-implanted samples show a more intense luminescence, which is revealed by annealing at lower temperatures than the samples implanted only with erbium. Thermal treatments cause the formation of erbium oxide as well as Er-Si complexes or precipitates. Violet-blue luminescence has been found from CL images and spectra to be related to Er-Si precipitates. Emission in the green-red range is attributed to oxide species.