Formation of rare‐earth oxide doped silicon by spark processing

In this work, we report a method for the incorporation of rare‐earth oxides onto silicon surfaces. This process uses a high‐energy dc spark to convert salts of rare‐earth ions such as europium and erbium to the corresponding oxide phase(s) with concomitant formation of a porous layer. Scanning electron micrographs of the silicon substrate show an irregular, pitted surface morphology for those areas exposed to spark processing. Photoluminescence, infrared spectroscopy, and electron microscopy of the spark‐processed regions of the Si substrate are clearly consistent with the formation of the desired luminescent oxide phase.