Visible and infrared (1.54 μm) emission from Er-implanted porous Si for photonic applications

This paper explores the challenges faced in developing efficient room temperature porous Si-based light emitting diodes. We experimentally demonstrate that porous Si is an excellent host material for erbium ions to emit strong, room temperature, sharp-line luminescence at 1.54 mu m. A comparison of photoluminescene data for erbium implanted samples of bulk Si, porous Si, and quartz indicate that quantum confinement likely enhances the erbium IR luminescene efficiency. Due to the 650 to 850 degree C annealing, it is unlikely that the environment of erbium in our samples is amorphous Si.