Piezoelectric and piezooptic effects in porous silicon

Although silicon is a simple cubic crystal, it can be induced to have a piezoelectric response, by making pores in it and thus spoiling its symmetry. By etching a silicon wafer into porous material, we found that it responds to voltage applied to it, as well as to light. A porous shallow layer on the surface of the wafer induced bimorph bending roughly proportional to the voltage squared. Illuminating the porous patch caused a similar bending.