The influence of stoichiometry on the structural stability and on the optical emission of erbium silicate thin films

We report the effects of thermal annealing performed in $N2$ or $O2$ ambient at $1200°C$ on the structural and optical properties of Er silicate films having different compositions (⁠$Er2SiO5$⁠, $Er2Si2O7$⁠, and their mixture). We demonstrate that the chemical composition of the stoichiometric films is preserved after the thermal treatments. All different crystalline structures formed after the thermal annealing are identified. Thermal treatments in $O2$ lead to a strong enhancement of the photoluminescence intensity, owing to the efficient reduction of defect density. In particular the highest optical efficiency is associated to Er ions in the $α$ phase of $Er2Si2O7$⁠.