Electrical conductivity of Ag (As40Se60)100− bulk glasses

Abstract The samples of Ag x (As 40 Se 60 ) 100− x ( x =1–30) bulk glasses were prepared by a standard melt-quenching technique. Thermal and electrical properties were studied on the prepared glasses. Temperature-modulated differential scanning calorimetry was used to measure glass transition, cold crystallization and melting temperatures of the prepared samples. Electrical transport properties were studied by an impedance spectroscopy and dc conductivity measurements. Activation energies of the conductivity were calculated from Arrhenius plots. One-semicircle impedance spectra were found for all the glasses studied except that with 9 at.% of silver. For this sample impedance spectra with two semicircles were obtained. This phenomenon is discussed in the terms of Bauerle’s easy path theory. The compositional dependence of the conductivity showed an increase of the conductivity with increasing silver content.