Doping porous silicon with erbium: pores filling as a method to limit the Er-clustering effects and increasing its light emission.

Title Doping porous silicon with erbium: pores filling as a method to limit the Er-clustering effects and increasing its light emission.
Authors G. Mula; T. Printemps; C. Licitra; E. Sogne; F. d'Acapito; N. Gambacorti; N. Sestu; M. Saba; E. Pinna; D. Chiriu; P.Carlo Ricci; A. Casu; F. Quochi; A. Mura; G. Bongiovanni; A. Falqui
Journal Sci Rep
DOI 10.1038/s41598-017-06567-4
Abstract

Er clustering plays a major role in hindering sufficient optical gain in Er-doped Si materials. For porous Si, the long-standing failure to govern the clustering has been attributed to insufficient knowledge of the several, concomitant and complex processes occurring during the electrochemical Er-doping. We propose here an alternative road to solve the issue: instead of looking for an equilibrium between Er content and light emission using 1-2% Er, we propose to significantly increase the electrochemical doping level to reach the filling the porous silicon pores with luminescent Er-rich material. To better understand the intricate and superposing phenomena of this process, we exploit an original approach based on needle electron tomography, EXAFS and photoluminescence. Needle electron tomography surprisingly shows a heterogeneous distribution of Er content in the silicon thin pores that until now couldn't be revealed by the sole use of scanning electron microscopy compositional mapping. Besides, while showing that pore filling leads to enhanced photoluminescence emission, we demonstrate that the latter is originated from both erbium oxide and silicate. These results give a much deeper understanding of the photoluminescence origin down to nanoscale and could lead to novel approaches focused on noteworthy enhancement of Er-related photoluminescence in porous silicon.

Citation G. Mula; T. Printemps; C. Licitra; E. Sogne; F. d'Acapito; N. Gambacorti; N. Sestu; M. Saba; E. Pinna; D. Chiriu; P.Carlo Ricci; A. Casu; F. Quochi; A. Mura; G. Bongiovanni; A. Falqui.Doping porous silicon with erbium: pores filling as a method to limit the Er-clustering effects and increasing its light emission.. Sci Rep. 2017;7(1):5957. doi:10.1038/s41598-017-06567-4

Related Elements

Erbium

See more Erbium products. Erbium (atomic symbol: Er, atomic number: 68) is a Block F, Group 3, Period 6 element with an atomic radius of 167.259. Erbium Bohr ModelThe number of electrons in each of Erbium's shells is [2, 8, 18, 30, 8, 2] and its electron configuration is [Xe]4f12 6s2. The erbium atom has a radius of 176 pm and a Van der Waals radius of 235 pm. Erbium was discovered by Carl Mosander in 1843. Sources of Erbium include the mineral monazite and sand ores. Erbium is a member of the lanthanide or rare earth series of elements.Elemental Erbium Picture In its elemental form, erbium is soft and malleable. It is fairly stable in air and does not oxidize as rapidly as some of the other rare earth metals. Erbium's ions fluoresce in a bright pink color, making them highly useful for imaging and optical applications. It is named after the Swedish town Ytterby where it was first discovered.

Silicon

See more Silicon products. Silicon (atomic symbol: Si, atomic number: 14) is a Block P, Group 14, Period 3 element with an atomic weight of 28.085. Silicon Bohr MoleculeThe number of electrons in each of Silicon's shells is 2, 8, 4 and its electron configuration is [Ne] 3s2 3p2. The silicon atom has a radius of 111 pm and a Van der Waals radius of 210 pm. Silicon was discovered and first isolated by Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1823. Silicon makes up 25.7% of the earth's crust, by weight, and is the second most abundant element, exceeded only by oxygen. The metalloid is rarely found in pure crystal form and is usually produced from the iron-silicon alloy ferrosilicon. Elemental SiliconSilica (or silicon dioxide), as sand, is a principal ingredient of glass, one of the most inexpensive of materials with excellent mechanical, optical, thermal, and electrical properties. Ultra high purity silicon can be doped with boron, gallium, phosphorus, or arsenic to produce silicon for use in transistors, solar cells, rectifiers, and other solid-state devices which are used extensively in the electronics industry.The name Silicon originates from the Latin word silex which means flint or hard stone.