  The photo-luminescence features of Ge-oxygen defect centers in a 100nm thick
Ge-doped silica film on a pure silica substrate were investigated by looking at
the emission spectra and time decay detected under synchrotron radiation
excitation in the 10-300 K temperature range. This center exhibits two
luminescence bands centered at 4.3eV and 3.2eV associated with its
de-excitation from singlet (S1) and triplet (T1) states, respectively, that are
linked by an intersystem crossing process. The comparison with results obtained
from a bulk Ge-doped silica sample evidences that the efficiency of the
intersystem crossing rate depends on the properties of the matrix embedding the
Ge-oxygen defect centers, being more effective in the film than in the bulk
counterpart.
