This paper shows evidence of the possible excitation of Er ions in Si-rich aluminosilicate glass layers deposited by magnetron sputtering through an energy transfer from Si nanoagglomerates formed after annealing at 450 degrees C. The intensity of the Er emission was found unaffected by the change of the excitation line from resonant to nonresonant over a certain range of wavelengths. The time decay dynamics have been also determined using the 476.5-nm-off-resonant excitation. The lifetime values were found to range between 2 and 4.1 ms, while the effective excitation cross section reaches similar to 4 X 10(-6) cm(2), nearly 4 orders of magnitude higher than its counterpart for the direct excitation of Er3+ ions. These results enhance the potential use of aluminosilicate glasses for the fabrication of planar optical amplifiers. (c) 2005 American Vacuum Society.