Features of Er3+ luminescence in fluorine-doped amorphous silicon dioxide fabricated by low-temperature plasma CVD

Spectra and photoluminescence kinetics of Er3+ ions incorporated in an amorphous host of fluorine-doped silicon dioxide synthesized by surface plasma chemical vapor deposition (SPCVD) are investigated at temperatures of 27–300 K. Luminescence is excited with an Ar+ laser at a wavelength of 514.5 nm and with a diode laser at a wavelength of 975 nm. Narrow and well-defined components of Stark manifolds with a small contribution from inhomogeneous broadening intrinsic to Er3+ ions in crystalline, but not amorphous, hosts are revealed and identified in photoluminescence spectra. The structure of the Stark manifolds is well-resolved at low temperatures. The presence of the well-resolved Stark structure in the spectra is indicative of stable anion complexes formating the Er3+ local neighborhood presumably associated with fluorine incorporation. This neighborhood is formed during the low temperature plasma chemical synthesis and is destroyed upon glass fusion.