Metal-insulator multilayer precursors for enhanced Sm²⁺ absorption and Tm²⁺ luminescence in SiAlO thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering

Metal-insulator multilayer precursors for enhanced Sm²⁺ absorption and Tm²⁺ luminescence in SiAlO thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering

Bizinoto Ferreira Bosco, G. (TU Delft RST/Luminescence Materials)
van den Biesen, J. K. (Student TU Delft)
Boers, C. D. (Student TU Delft)
Simone, G. (Physee)
Kao, C.C. (Physee)
Tichelaar, F.D. (TU Delft QN/Afdelingsbureau; Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft)
Boshuizen, B. (TU Delft ChemE/O&O groep)
van der Kolk, E. (TU Delft RST/Luminescence Materials)

2022

Silicon-aluminum-oxigen (SiAlO) coatings doped with Sm²⁺ and prepared by reactive magnetron co-sputtering of Si, Al, and Sm targets, are attractive for luminescence solar concentrator applications but suffer from the low absorption between 300 and 600 nm. This article reports that the main cause of low absorption is a high concentration of undesired Sm³⁺. This finding is supported by optical transmittance, photoluminescence emission and excitation characterization, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data of the Sm's 3d^5/2 edge. We present an alternative deposition process for obtaining Sm doped SiAlO layers with enhanced Sm²⁺ absorption by incorporating Sm through the use of multilayer thin-film precursors composed of metallic Sm and SiAlO layers. After thermal post-deposition treatments, diffusion and reaction of the metallic Sm layers with the SiAlO host results in coatings showing the characteristic 5d → 4f transitions of Sm²⁺ in the region between 250 and 600 nm which were not detectable in Sm-doped single layers. This same deposition strategy produces Tm doped SiAlO coatings with Tm²⁺‘s characteristic luminescence at 1132 nm when the SiAlO host is in the mullite composition region. The photoluminescence excitation spectrum of Tm²⁺ is compared to phosphor with similar composition and covers the range between 300 and 700 nm.

Magnetron sputtering
Multilayered thin films
Samarium
Thulium

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:0c2c1769-40eb-4bef-9e30-fa9274f64de0

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlumin.2021.118421

0022-2313

Journal of Luminescence, 241

An corrigendum is included at the end see also DOI 10.1016/j.jlumin.2021.118421

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2022 G. Bizinoto Ferreira Bosco, J. K. van den Biesen, C. D. Boers, G. Simone, C.C. Kao, F.D. Tichelaar, B. Boshuizen, E. van der Kolk