Dysprosium-doped chalcogenide films prepared by pulsed-laser deposition

Abstract

The chalcogenide glasses possess interesting optical properties such as a good transmission in the nIR-mIR wavelength region, high linear and non-linear refractive index and photosensitivity, which allows holographic patterns writing. Moreover, their low-phonon energy makes them good candidates for optical amplification. In order to design an integrated circuit on chalcogenide glasses, the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique is a suitable method for deposition of glass with complex composition. Amorphous Ge-Ga-Sb-S films (pure and dysprosium doped) were prepared by PLD using different energy of the laser beam pulses. Compositional, morphological and structural characteristics of the films were studied by MEB-EDS, atomic force, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy analyses. The photo-luminescence of Dy doped Ge-Ga-Sb-S films was investigated. The emission band centered at 1340 nm corresponding to ⁶F_11/2, ⁶H_9/2-⁶H_15/2 electron transitions of Dy³⁺ ions was identified in luminescence spectra of dysprosium doped thin films. A study of the optical properties and the effects of exposure and thermal annealing below the glass transition temperature on the optical parameters of thin films from the Ge-Ga-Sb-S system will be presented.