Structural, chemical and optical characterizations of nanocrystallized AlN:Er thin films prepared by r.f. magnetron sputtering

TL;DR

This paper investigates how Er doping affects the structural, chemical, and optical properties of nanocrystalline AlN thin films prepared by r.f. magnetron sputtering, highlighting correlations between Er concentration, crystallinity, and IR photoluminescence.

Contribution

It introduces a combined EDSX and EPMA method to accurately determine Er concentration and analyzes its impact on the films' photoluminescence and crystalline structure.

Findings

Optimal Er concentration enhances IR PL intensity.

Crystallite structure correlates with Er doping levels.

Method for precise Er quantification in AlN films.

Abstract

Nanocrystalline n-AlN:Er thin films were deposited on (001) Silicon substrates by r. f. magnetron sputtering at room temperature to study the correlation between 1.54 $\mu$m IR photoluminescence (PL) intensity, AlN crystalline structure and Er concentration rate. This study first presents how Energy-Dispersive Spectroscopy of X-rays (EDSX) Er Cliff Lorimer sensitivity factor alpha = 5 is obtained by combining EDSX and electron probe micro analysis (EPMA) results on reference samples. It secondly presents the relative PL intensities of nanocrystallized samples prepared with identical sputtering parameters as a function of the Er concentration. The structure of crystallites in AlN films is observed by transmission electron microscopy.