The continued size reduction in electronic integrated circuits has lead to a demand for on-chip high-bandwidth and low loss communication channels. Optical interconnects are considered an essential addition to the silicon electronics platform. A major challenge in the field of integrated Si photonics is the development of cost effective silicon compatible light sources. This thesis investigates the sensitization of group IV doped silica films emitting at 1.535μm for applications as silicon compatible light sources. Thin erbium-doped silica films containing excess silicon and germanium were deposited using a multi-gun sputter system. The composition of the deposited materials was verified by Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry. Samples from each deposition were annealed in a controlled atmosphere tube furnace at temperatures between 500ºC and 1100ºC for 30 minutes. The photoluminescence spectra from the visible to the near-infrared region were acquired while pumping either near or far from the Er3+ absorption lines. Under both excitation conditions all samples annealed at temperatures below 1000ºC show clear emission at 1.535μm from Er3+ ions in the host material. In the current literature this is attributed to exciton mediated excitation of the Er3+. By contrast, in these studies indirect excitation was observed for samples annealed at temperatures well below the onset of nanocrystal nucleation and growth (between 500ºC and 1000ºC), suggesting excitation via small clusters or lattice defects. These findings could have significant implications in the further development of group IV sensitized silicon compatible gain media.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd-2012 |
| Date | 01 January 2006 |
| Creators | Ruhge, Forrest |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
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