Open AccessFabrication of bright and thin Zn_2SiO_4 luminescent film for electron beam excitation-assisted optical microscope
Author(s) -
Toshiharu Furukawa,
Satoshi Kanamori,
Masahiro Fukuta,
Yasunori Nawa,
Hiroko Kominami,
Yoichiro Nakanishi,
Atsushi Sugita,
Wataru Inami,
Yoshimasa Kawata
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.23.018630
Subject(s) - cathodoluminescence , materials science , luminescence , thin film , optics , scanning electron microscope , optoelectronics , annealing (glass) , optical microscope , microscopy , excitation , microscope , nanotechnology , physics , composite material , electrical engineering , engineering
We fabricated a bright and thin Zn₂SiO₄ luminescent film to serve as a nanometric light source for high-spatial-resolution optical microscopy based on electron beam excitation. The Zn₂SiO₄ luminescent thin film was fabricated by annealing a ZnO film on a Si₃N₄ substrate at 1000 °C in N₂. The annealed film emitted bright cathodoluminescence compared with the as-deposited film. The film is promising for nano-imaging with electron beam excitation-assisted optical microscopy. We evaluated the spatial resolution of a microscope developed using this Zn₂SiO₄ luminescent thin film. This is the first report of the investigation and application of ZnO/Si₃N₄ annealed at a high temperature (1000 °C). The fabricated Zn₂SiO₄ film is expected to enable high-frame-rate dynamic observation with ultra-high resolution using our electron beam excitation-assisted optical microscopy.