Abstract

Crystalline undoped and thulium doped yttrium oxide (Y₂O₃) thin films have been grown by the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique on various single-crystal substrates heated at 700 °C. X-Ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that the orientations of the films depended on the substrate and on the oxygen pressure. The crystalline quality of Y₂O₃ thin films, studied by rocking-curve measurements and by Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) in channeling geometry, and the in-plane orientations between films and substrates, determined by X-ray asymmetric diffraction, were also found to depend on the same parameters. The recording of the visible fluorescence spectra of the thulium (Tm) doped Y₂O₃ thin films, as well as the measurements of the fluorescence lifetimes of the ¹D₂ and ¹G₄ thulium emitting levels, gave results very similar to those obtained on bulk crystals. Doping rates in Tm of 0.5 and 1% were found to limit Tm–Tm interactions inside the films and to give relatively high visible fluorescence intensities.