Strong enhancement of Er3+ emission at room temperature in Si3N4 metasurfaces

TL;DR

This study demonstrates a significant enhancement of Er3+ emission at room temperature in Si3N4 metasurfaces, achieved through nanostructure design and ion implantation, promising for CMOS-compatible photonics.

Contribution

The paper introduces a method to enhance Er3+ emission in Si3N4 metasurfaces using nanocylinder arrays and ion implantation, with experimental and simulation validation.

Findings

Photoluminescence enhancement factor of ~18 at optimal nanocylinder radius

Nearly ten-fold reduction in luminescence lifetime due to Purcell effect

Four-fold increase in emission with increased ion implantation depth

Abstract

We report a significant enhancement of room-temperature photoluminescence from trivalent erbium-doped (Er3+) silicon nitride (Si3N4) metasurfaces at the telecommunication wavelength prepared via ion implantation. The metasurfaces, consisting of periodic nanocylinder arrays, are designed to support Mie-type resonances that tailor the local density of optical states. By systematically optimizing the nanocylinder radii, we achieve a photoluminescence (PL) enhancement factor of ~18 at a radius of 390 nm after thermal annealing, which is in excellent agreement with our simulations. Time-resolved PL measurements reveal a nearly ten-fold reduction in luminescence lifetime, confirming that the enhancement is primarily driven by the Purcell effect. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the PL intensity is strongly dependent on the Er3+ ion implantation depth, with a four-fold increase in emission observed from 20 nm to 80 nm ion range. These results provide a robust pathway for integrating efficient, active light sources into CMOS-compatible photonic device.