Luminescence of Tb ions implanted into amorphous AlN thin films grown by sputtering

We report the observation of visible cathodoluminescence (CL) of Tb ions implanted into amorphous AlN films produced by sputtering. The implanted samples were subjected to thermal annealing treatment up to 1100 °C to optically activate the incorporated ions. The results show that up to 1000 °C annealing temperature the films remain amorphous and the Tb3+ emission intensity increases. The amorphous AlN:Tb films were characterized by x-ray diffraction, CL, and CL kinetics measurements. The sharp characteristic emission lines corresponding to intra-4fn-shell transitions are resolved in the spectral range from 350 to 750 nm, and observed over the temperature range from 7 to 330 K due to the transitions from D35 and D45 levels toward the FJ5 (J=2 to 6) multiplets. Finally, CL kinetics measurements have revealed that decay times of D35→7FJ and D45→7FJ transitions are in the range 0.94–0.77 and 0.49–1.61 ms at 300 K, respectively.