DTA STUDIES ON THE CRYSTALLIZATION OF INXSE1-X CHALCOGENIDE GLASSES

Results of differential thermal analysis (DTA) under nonisothermal conditions on five chalcogenide glasses of the InxSe1-x system (x=0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20 and 0.25at.) are reported and discussed. The crystallization mechanism has been studied by using DTA, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction. From the dependence of the glass transition temperature (T(g)), the onset crystallization temperature (T(c)) and the crystallization peak temperature (T(p)) on the heating rate (alpha), the glass transition activation energy (E(t)) and the crystallization activation energy (E(c)) were derived. The calculated E(t) for InxSe1-x varied between 246 and 309 kJ/mol. The results indicate that bulk crystallization with two-dimensional growth occurs for these glasses. The average activation energy of crystallization for InxSe1-x varied between 105 and 125 kJ/mol. In0.10Se0.90 chalcogenide glass showed a minimum value of E(c) as well as (T(c) - T(g)), which represents the thermal stability of the glass, indicating that this composition has a tendency towards crystallization more than the other compositions.