Structural, optical and electrical properties of SnO2:Sb:Tb3+ /porous silicon devices

SnO2:Sb sol-gel derived thin films doped with Tb3+ were deposited on porous silicon (PS) layers. Transmission electron microscopy observations, electron diffraction patterns and energy dispersive x-ray analysis revealed the crystallization of small crystallites of cassiterite embedded in the porous layer and the presence of Tb3+ ions in the SnO2 crystallites. The photoluminescence spectrum shows that Tb3+ ions emit highly after annealing at 500 degreesC. Preliminary characterizations of the electrical and transient electroluminescence of the resulting nanocomposite structures are presented. We discuss the I-V of SnO2:Tb3+/PS device under both forward and reverse bias conditions.