Laser stimulated piezoelectricity in Er3+ doped GeO2–Bi2O3 glasses containing silicon nanocrystals

•Er3+ doped GeO2–Bi2O3 glasses with Si nanoparticles for applications Er3+ with piezoelectric devices.•Successive increase of the piezoelectricity during the increase of the fundamental energy density.•The maximum piezoelectric tensor coefficient corresponds to the sample with 0.5 wt% of Si.

We report the first observation of the laser stimulated piezoelectricity in Er3+ doped GeO2–Bi2O3 glasses containing silicon nanocrystals, prepared using the simple well known melt quenching technique. Two split beams originated from the same nanosecond lasers were used for the performance of the bicolor laser treatment.The fundamental (λ = 1064 nm) and the doubled frequency (λ = 532 nm) signal of a pulsed nanosecond Nd:YAG laser, as the fundamental (λ = 1540 nm) and the doubled frequency (λ = 770 nm) signal of an Er:glass laser were used.The ratio of power densities between the fundamental and the doubled frequency beams has been varied from 4:1 to 8:1. This value was chosen to achieve the maximum output photoinduced piezoelectric response. The present photoinduced piezoelectricity effect opens a new road for obtaining optically operated piezoelectric devices in germanate composites doped with rare-earth ions.