High blue emission in impurified (Er-doped) SiOC films obtained by the HWCVD technique using SBA-15 and TEOS

SiOC is widely investigated due to its different applications and uses and is currently being studied due to its ability to produce stable and intense photoluminescence. This work presents a study of the changes in the optical, morphological and compositional properties of SiOC:Er thin films obtained by the hot wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) technique using tetraorthosilicate (TEOS), erbium oxide and mesoporous silicon oxides (SBA-15) as new precursors. According to the FTIR absorption spectrum and EDS analysis of the films, all the films were composed of carbon, oxygen and silicon atoms. Moreover, in the photoluminescence spectrum, high emission in the blue region was observed, indicating the presence of Si-nc in the samples. We suggest that the distance between the erbium atoms and Si-nc in SiOC films is responsible for the high-intensity photoluminescence emission.