Structure and luminescence evolution of annealed Europium-doped silicon oxides films.

Europium (Eu)-doped silicon oxide films with Eu concentrations from 2.1 to 4.7 at. % were deposited by electron beam evaporation. The Eu related luminescence from the films was found to be sensitive to the evolution of film microstructures at different annealing temperatures. Luminescence centers in the films changed from defects of silicon oxides to 4f(6)5d-4f(7)(8S(7/2)) transition of Eu2+ after the films annealed in N2 at temperature higher than 800 °C. The evolution of luminescence centers was attributed to the formation of europium silicate (EuSiO3), which was confirmed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, time resolved photoluminescence, and transmission electron microscopy.