A Novel Effect of CO2 Laser Induced Piezoelectricity in Ag2Ga2SiS6 Chalcogenide Crystals

Abstract

We have discovered a substantial enhancement of the piezoelectric coefficients (from 10 to 78 pm/V) in the chalcogenide Ag2Ga2SiS6 single crystals. The piezoelectric studies were done under the influence of a CO2 laser (wavelength 10.6 µm, time duration 200 ns, lasers with power densities varying up to 700 MW/cm2). Contrary to the earlier studies where the photoinduced piezoelectricity was done under the influence of the near IR lasers, the effect is higher by at least one order, which is a consequence of the phonon anharmonic contributions and photopolarizations. Such a discovery allows one to build infrared piezotronic devices, which may be used for the production of the IR laser tunable optoelectronic triggers and memories. This is additionally confirmed by the fact that analogous photoillumination by the near IR laser (Nd:YAG (1064 nm) and Er:glass laser (1540 nm)) gives the obtained values of the effective piezoelectricity at of least one order less. The effect is completely reversible with a relaxation time up to several milliseconds. In order to clarify the role of free carriers, additional studies of photoelectrical spectra were done.