Temperature dependence of sensitized Er(3+) luminescence in silicon-rich oxynitride films

The temperature dependence of sensitized Er(3+) emission via localized states and silicon nanoclusters has been studied to get an insight into the excitation and de-excitation processes in silicon-rich oxynitride films. The thermal quenching of Er(3+) luminescence is elucidated by terms of decay time and effective excitation cross section. The temperature quenching of Er(3+) decay time demonstrates the presence of non-radiative trap states, whose density and energy gap between Er(3+)(4)I(13/2) excited levels are reduced by high-temperature annealing. The effective excitation cross section initially increases and eventually decreases with temperature, indicating that the energy transfer process is phonon assisted in both samples.