Atom probe study of erbium and oxygen co-implanted silicon

It has been reported that erbium (Er) is a source of optical emission at λ=1.54 pm due to ⁴I_13/2 →⁴I_15/2 transition of Er³⁺. A method of oxygen (O) codoping with Er has attracted attention as a candidate for obtaining more efficient optical gain by forming Er:O complex. Although several simulations predict the equilibrium structure of Er:O complex, it is difficult to understand experimentally how related between these implanted ions followed by annealing for optical activation. In this workshop, we reported the preliminary results on three-dimensional distributions of Er and O co-implanted into Si investigated by atom probe tomography.