Properties of Erbium Doped Hydrogenated Amorphous Carbon Layers Fabricated by Sputtering and Plasma Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition

Abstract

We report about properties of carbon layers doped with Er³⁺ ions fabricated by Plasma Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition (PACVD) and by sputtering on silicon or glass substrates. The structure of the samples was characterized by X-ray diffraction and their composition was determined by Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy and Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis. The Absorbance spectrum was taken in the spectral range from 400 nm to 600 nm. Photoluminescence spectra were obtained using two types of Ar laser (λ_ex=514.5 nm, lex=488 nm) and also using a semiconductor laser (λ_ex=980 nm). Samples fabricated by magnetron sputtering exhibited typical emission at 1530 nm when pumped at 514.5 nm.