Controlled Modification of Erbium Lifetime by Near-Field Coupling to Metallic Films

Abstract

Systematic measurements of the photoluminescence lifetime of the 1.54 μm transition of erbium implanted at different energies in SiO2 films with different metallic overlayers are reported. The lifetime shows a strong reduction up to a factor of 20 with decreasing distance between the erbium and the metal overlayer. The reduction of lifetime is mainly due to a near-field interaction between the erbium ions and the metal overlayers through generation of surface plasmon polaritons at the metal/SiO2 interface and direct generation of heat in the metal. These experiments combined with rigorous theoretical modeling demonstrate that a high degree of control over the radiative properties of erbium can be achieved in erbium-implanted materials in a wide range of implantation energies. The experiments also allow us to determine the radiative efficiency of erbium in bulk SiO2.