Fabrication and evaluation of green-light emitting Ta2O5:Er, Ce co-sputtered thin films

• Main Authors: K. Miura, T. Osawa, T. Suzuki, Y. Yokota, O. Hanaizumi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2015-01-01
• Series: Results in Physics
• Subjects: Tantalum oxide; Erbium; Cerium; Co-sputtering; Green-light emission
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211379715000108

Erbium and cerium co-doped tantalum-oxide (Ta2O5:Er, Ce) thin films were fabricated using radio-frequency co-sputtering of Ta2O5, Er2O3, and CeO2 for the first time. Enhanced green-light emission due to Er3+ that seems to be sensitized by Ce3+ was observed from the film annealed at 900 °C for 20 min. From XRD measurements of the films, the β-Ta2O5 (orthorhombic), δ-Ta2O5 (hexagonal), and (201) Ta2O5 phases seem to be very important for obtaining green PL from them. Such Ta2O5:Er, Ce co-sputtered films can be used as high-refractive-index materials of autocloned photonic crystals that can be applied to novel green-light-emitting devices, and they will also be used as multi-functional coating films that can work both as anti-reflection and down-conversion films for realizing high-efficiency silicon solar cells.