Erbium Emission from Silicon Based Photonic Bandgap Materials
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Erbium Emission from Silicon Based Photonic Bandgap Materials Herman A. Lopez1, J. Eduardo Lugo2, Selena Chan3, Sharon M. Weiss4, Christopher C. Striemer5, and Philippe M. Fauchet1,3,4,5 1 Materials Science Program, 3Center for Future Health, 4Institute of Optics, and 5Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, U.S.A. 2 Centro de Investigacion en Energia UNAM, A.P. 34, C.P. 62580, Morelos, Mexico
ABSTRACT Control over the 1.5 µm emission from erbium is desirable for communication and computational technologies because the erbium emission falls in the window of maximum transmission for silica based fiber optics. Tunable, narrow, directional, and enhanced erbium emission from silicon based 1-D photonic bandgap structures will be demonstrated. The structures are prepared by anodic etching of crystalline silicon and consist of two highly reflecting Bragg reflectors sandwiching an active layer. The cavities are doped by electromigrating the erbium ions into the porous silicon matrix, followed by high temperature oxidation. By controlling the oxidation temperature, porosity, and thickness of the structure, the position of the erbium emission is tuned to emit in regions where the normal erbium emission is very weak. The erbium emission from the cavity is narrowed to a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 12 nm with a cavity quality factor Q of 130, highly directional with a 20 degree emission cone around the normal axis, and enhanced by more than one order of magnitude when compared to its lateral emission. Erbium photoluminescence (PL) from porous silicon 2-D photonic bandgap structures is also demonstrated.
INTRODUCTION In recent years there have been tremendous efforts towards achieving all-silicon based optoelectronic circuits. The realization of these circuits would give optical processing capabilities to silicon and increase their processing speed well beyond current integrated circuit technology. The development of silicon-based optical circuits is a promising solution to the fast approaching problem of reaching the size limits of integrated circuits. The push towards optical circuits has come from a variety of materials that give silicon the ability to emit light, as in the case of erbium-doped silicon [1,2] and porous silicon [3]; as well as guide and modulate light as in the case of photonic bandgap materials [4,5,6]. Erbium is a rare-earth element of extreme importance as a result of its 1.54 µm emission exactly matching the window of maximum transmission in silica based fiber optics. Porous silicon has been shown to be a good host for the cathodic electro-migration of erbium ions because it offers the advantages of deeper erbium penetration (10-20 µm), lower cost, and simplicity of processing when compared to ion implantation [2,7]. The matrix of porous silicon also readily oxidizes, obtaining large concentrations of oxygen necessary for efficient erbium emission. Porous silicon is a material that has been extensively studied, as a result of its efficient
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