Speckle photo-electromotive force in Bi₁₂SiO₂₀: Effect of the speckle size

A study of the speckle photo-electromotive force (PEMF) in a photorefractive sensor of amplitudes of micro-oscillations is presented. The experimental behavior of the first harmonic of the photocurrent generated as a function of the average speckle diameter and the oscillation amplitude of the speckle pattern is analyzed for a sensor implemented with a Bi ₁₂SiO₂₀ (BSO) crystal. For a given light intensity, a nearly constant value of the maximum amplitude of the first harmonic was experimentally observed for the range of speckle sizes considered. This experimental result and the linear dependence of the vibration amplitude yielding the maximum of the photocurrent as a function of the speckle diameter were appropriately described by the mathematical model considered. Results show the possibility of adequately selecting the speckle size to optimize the output of speckle PEMF-based sensors depending on the oscillation amplitude to be measured.