Erbium doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon prepared by dc sputtering

Abstract EN

-Highly erbium-doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si.

H(Er)) thin films were deposited by dc magnetron sputtering.

Erbium was incorporated into the host material by co-sputtering technique.

Deposited films (0.5 - 1.1 n m thick) were characterized by optical transmission, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), secondary ion mass spectrometry and electrical measurements.

RBS and SIMS measurements clearly evidenced an erbium incorporation, with a concentration at about 1 to 2 %, on the whole film thickness.

This erbium incorporation induced an increase in the refractive index value (from 3.2 to 3.55) and a decrease in the optical gap energy value up to 1.14e V.

Moreover, we observed a strong decrease in the electrical resistivity (from 10s to 5500 O.

cm) in a-Si : H(Er) films compared to that undoped a-Si:H films.