Deposition of Europium Oxide on Si and its optical properties depending on thermal annealing conditions

Abstract

We investigate the influence of the ambient gas during thermal annealing on the photoluminescence (PL) properties of europium compound thin films on Si substrates. The films were deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering and subsequently annealed in N-2 or O-2 ambient gas by rapid thermal annealing (RTA). The results of X-ray diffraction indicate that the resulting europium compound annealed in N-2 ambient have several silicate phases such as EuSiO3 and Eu2SiO4 compared to those annealed in O-2 ambient. The spectral results revealed that a broad luminescence associated with Eu2+ ions, with a maximum intensity at 600 nm and a FWHM of 110 nm, was observed from the thin film annealed at 1000 A degrees C in N-2 ambient. However, a series of narrow PL spectra from Eu3+ ions were observed from the film annealed in O-2 ambient.