Enhanced Light Emission of Er(Yb/Y) Silicates at the Wavelength of 1.53 $\mu$m With Au Plasmonic Arrays

In this paper, we present a novel method to increase photoluminescence (PL) efficiency at the wavelength of 1.53 μm (λ = 1.53 μm) by depositing Au plasmonic arrays on SiO
₂
/Er(Yb/Y) silicates. Theoretical analysis reveals that the PL enhancement is caused by the resonant coupling of surface plasmon polaritons from photoemission in Er(Yb/Y) and the electric field of incident light at the Au/SiO
₂
interface. Numerical investigations show that by using the finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) method, the change of the peak shape and bandwidth of transmission spectra at λ = 1.53 μm depends strongly on the arrays period (a0) and Au film thickness (t
_Au
). It is demonstrated that, by experiments, the plasmonic arrays of a0 = 1082 nm and t
_Au
= 50 nm can enhance the PL intensity two times, compared with a flat Au film, which can serve as an excellent guideline for designing and optimizing a highly efficient solid-state light source.