Open AccessImprovement of luminescent properties of thin-film phosphors by excimer laser processing
Author(s) -
J McKittrick,
C F Bacalski,
G. A. Hirata,
R C Sze,
J Mourant,
K V Salazar,
Mitchell Trkula
Publication year - 1998
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/296757
Subject(s) - materials science , fluence , phosphor , sapphire , yttrium , thin film , luminescence , photoluminescence , analytical chemistry (journal) , excimer laser , europium , laser ablation , pulsed laser deposition , laser , chemical vapor deposition , optics , oxide , optoelectronics , nanotechnology , chemistry , metallurgy , physics , chromatography
Thin-films of europium doped yttrium oxide, (Y{sub 1{minus}x}Eu{sub x}){sub 2}O{sub 3}, were deposited on sapphire substrates by metallorganic chemical vapor deposition. The films, {approximately} 400 nm thick, were weakly luminescent in the as-deposited condition. A KrF laser was pulsed once on the surface of the films at a fluence level between 0.9--2.3 J/cm{sup 2}. One pulse was sufficient to melt the film, which increased the photoluminescent emission intensity. Melting of a rough surface resulted in smoothing of the surface. The highest energy pulse resulted in a decrease in luminous intensity, presumably due to material removal. Computational modeling of the laser melting and ablation process predicted that a significant fraction of the film is removed by ablation at the highest fluence levels