Structural investigation of liquid Ge-chalcogen mixtures

Neutron diffraction studies of liquid Ge-Se and Ge-Te mixtures have been carried out by using the steady-state and pulsed neutron sources, The structure factors for liquid Ge33Se67 suggest that Ge and Se atoms form covalent bonds in the liquid state and that a network structure is formed. However, this structure is quickly broken with increasing temperature or by changing the composition of mixtures. On the other hand, the bonds between Ge and Te atoms seem to be weaker than those between Ge and Se atoms and show metallic properties.