High temperature luminescence of Dy³⁺ in crystalline silicon in the optical communication and eye-safe spectral regions

Abstract

We report on photoluminescence in the 1.3 and 1.7 μm spectral ranges in silicon doped with dysprosium. This is attributed to the ${\mathrm{Dy}}^{3+}$ internal transitions between the second ${\mathrm{Dy}}^{3+}$ excited state and the ground state, and between the third ${\mathrm{Dy}}^{3+}$ excited state and the ground state. Luminescence is achieved by Dy implantation into Si substrates codoped with boron, to form dislocation loops, and show a strong dependence on fabrication process. The spectra consist of several sharp lines with the strongest emission at 1736 nm, observed up to 200 K. No ${\mathrm{Dy}}^{3+}$ luminescence is observed in samples without B codoping, showing the paramount importance of dislocation loops to enable the Dy emission.

© 2013 Optical Society of America