Hybrid integration of unconventional optical materials is arguably a promising way to substantially extend a range of chip functionalities on traditional silicon-based platforms. Especially, functional oxides are very promising because they exhibit many attractive properties, including superconductivity, piezoelectricity, ferroelectricity, and optical effects. In this article, we demonstrate hybrid photonic platform with an Erbium-doped (Er-doped) Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia (YSZ) thin film used as an active luminescent cladding on top of low-loss Silicon Nitride (SiN) waveguides. This active layer has been grown by a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. Optical characterizations via photoluminescence (PL) measurements were performed in both normal and in-plane light incidence to demonstrate strong near-infrared (near-IR) emission of Er ions in the Er:YSZ thin film. Moreover, we also observed an intense in-plane guided PL emission in visible and near-IR wavelengths from hybrid Er:YSZ-on-SiNx waveguides. These results pave the way towards rare-earth-doped YSZ structures on silicon-based platforms, thereby affording required function versatility for future photonic integrated circuits.

中文翻译：

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用于光子应用的掺铒氧化钇稳定氧化锆薄层

非常规光学材料的混合集成可以说是在传统硅基平台上大幅扩展一系列芯片功能的有前途的方式。特别是功能性氧化物非常有前途，因为它们表现出许多吸引人的特性，包括超导性、压电性、铁电性和光学效应。在本文中，我们展示了混合光子平台，其中掺铒（Er 掺杂）氧化钇稳定氧化锆 (YSZ) 薄膜用作低损耗氮化硅 (SiN) 波导顶部的有源发光包层。该有源层是通过脉冲激光沉积 (PLD) 技术生长的。通过光致发光 (PL) 测量在法向和面内光入射中进行光学表征，以证明 Er 离子在 Er:YSZ 薄膜中的强近红外 (near-IR) 发射。此外，我们还观察到来自混合 Er:YSZ-on-SiNx 波导的可见光和近红外波长的强烈面内引导 PL 发射。这些结果为在硅基平台上实现稀土掺杂 YSZ 结构铺平了道路，从而为未来的光子集成电路提供了所需的多功能性。