Er-doped InP and GaAs grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

Erbium is doped into InP and GaAs epitaxial layers for the first time by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition using tris-cyclopentadienyl erbium [Er(C5H5)3]. Uniform doping as high as 1.5×1019 cm−3 across the entire depth of the epitaxial layers is revealed by secondary ion mass spectroscopy. Erbium-related photoluminescence spectra around 1.54 μm from InP:Er and GaAs:Er show remarkable resemblance. At 2 K, in addition to the dominant zero phonon line at 1542 nm for InP:Er and at 1543 nm for GaAs:Er, several other zero phonon lines are observed at longer wavelengths. The Er-related peak is observed at 1539±1 nm even at 300 K for InP:Er, shifting toward the shorter wavelengths by a little as 3 nm with increasing temperature from 2 to 300 K.