Properties of Erbium and Ytterbium Doped Gallium Nitride Layers Fabricated by Magnetron Sputtering

Abstract

We report about some properties of erbium and erbium/ytterbium doped gallium nitride (GaN) layers fabricated by magnetron sputtering onsilicon, quartz and Corning glass substrates. For fabricating GaN layers two types of targets were used - gallium in a stainless steel cup anda Ga2O3 target. Deposition was carried out in the Ar+N2 gas mixture. For erbium and ytterbium doping into GaN layers, erbium metallicpowder and ytterbium powder or Er2O3 and Yb2O3 pellets were laid on the top of the target. The samples were characterized by X-raydiffraction (XRD), photoluminescence spectra and nuclear analytical methods. While the use of a metallic gallium target ensured thedeposition of well-developed polycrystalline layers, the use of gallium oxide target provided GaN films with poorly developed crystals. Bothapproaches enabled doping with erbium and ytterbium ions during deposition, and typical emission at 1 530 nm due to the Er3+ intra-4f 4I13/2 → 4I15/2 transition was observed.