Bismuth as an efficient visible emitter and as a sensitizer for Er ions in Si-compatible yttrium compounds

For many decades, rare earths (REs) doped compounds have attracted considerable interest as emitting materials for displays and photonics applications. However, owing to the difficulty in achieving strongly efficient RE-doped emitting devices, the researchers interest is moving towards other solutions. The use of post-transition metals, such as bismuth, as dopants for Si-compatible materials is one of them. In this work, the dissolution of optically active Bi ions in RE compounds will be illustrated and its properties as visible emitter and as an Er sensitizer for infrared emission will be addressed.