53 μm) and (2) incorporation of quantum-confined Si nanoclusters (Si-ncs) or nanocrystallites (Si-NCs) in such doped fibers, favoring an enhancement of Er-effective excitation cross section. Both these approaches fully exploit the individual properties of Si-ncs (Si-NCs) and rare-earth ions [1, 2]. It was Wortmannin molecular weight already demonstrated that Si-nc/SiO2 interface affects significantly not only the properties of the Si-ncs themselves, but also the optical activity of Er3+ ions coupled with Si-ncs [1, 3, 4]. It was shown that a thin 0.8-nm sub-stoichiometric interface

between the Si-nc and the SiO2 host plays a critical role in the Si-nc emission [5, 6]. Furthermore, numerous studies allowed the determination of the main mechanism of the interaction between the Si-ncs and the neighboring Er3+ ions [1, 2, 7]. Along with the effect of structural environment of both Er3+ ions and Si-ncs on their individual properties, it has also been observed that

very small Si-ncs, even amorphous, allow an efficient sensitizing effect towards Er3+ ions. However, the efficiency of this process depends on the separating distance between Si-ncs and rare-earth ions [7–9]. Critical interaction distances were found to be about 0.5 nm [7, 9, 10]. In spite of the significant progress in the investigation of the excitation processes in Er-doped Si-rich SiO2 materials, some issues are still debatable, such as the spatial location of optically active Er3+ ions with regard to Si-ncs. Another aspect, which may control the optical properties, is the distribution of Er dopants in the film, i.e., either these ions are uniformly www.selleckchem.com/products/ly333531.html distributed or they form some agglomerates [11]. Thus, mapping the Si and Er3+ distributions in Er-doped Si-rich SiO2 films as well as the investigation of the evolution of these distributions versus fabrication conditions and post-fabrication processing are the key issues to manage the required light-emitting properties of such systems. Up to now, high-resolution and energy-filtered transmission electron

microscopies were the only techniques offered a direct visualization of Si and Er distributions [11–13]. Nevertheless, other indirect techniques, either such as fluorescence-extended X-ray absorption fine-structure spectroscopy [14–16] or X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy [17], have evidenced that the amount of Er clusters in Er-doped Si-rich SiO2 films depends https://www.selleckchem.com/products/AC-220.html strongly on the preparation conditions or annealing temperature. We have recently demonstrated the feasibility of atom probe tomography (APT) analysis of Si-rich SiO2 systems, giving its atomic insight [18, 19]. With the benefit of this expertise, the purpose of this paper is to perform a deep analysis of Er-doped Si-rich SiO2 thin films by means of APT experiments to understand the link between the nanoscale structure of the films and their optical properties.