Effect of arsenic atom substitute with antimony on crystallization processes and thermal stability of the (Sb, As)-S-I system

Abstract Non-isothermal differential scanning calorimetry measurements of Sb x As 37-x S 48 I 15 chalcogenide glasses for x = 0, 7, 12, 22, 32 and 37 at.% at different heating rates were applied for the analysis of the crystallization processes and thermal stability. The activation energies of glass transition ( E g ) and crystallization ( E c ) were obtained. Methods based on the temperature of peak and methods based on the shape of peak of crystallization were used for E c calculations. The activation energies of glass crystallization were determined for the Sb 37 S 48 I 15 glass, as well as the value of the Avrami index n using the Matusita–Sakka theory. The analysis showed that the detected crystallization processes are characterized by the value n which indicates that volume nucleation and three-dimensional growth are involved. Depending on the model used, the values of this parameter for SbSI ranged from 122(14) to 133(14) kJ/mol, whereas for the structural unit Sb 2 S 3 , the values were in the range from 160(18) to 176(50) kJ/mol. Values of E c for Sb 2 S 3 structural unit, correspond to values which can be found in the literature. E g values are in the range from 222(40) kJ/mol to 302(8) kJ/mol, depending on Sb content. Reducing of thermal stability against crystallization can be explained by the exchange of the elements from the same group of the Periodic Table (As and Sb) and similar nature of the analogous structural units, involving no change in the coordination number, whereas the share of the ionic bond in them is changed.