Local structure resulting from photo and thermal diffusion of Ag in Ge-Se thin films

Thermally and photoinduced diffusion of Ag in thin amorphous Ge20Se80 films are investigated with particular attention being given to the reaction kinetics and the local structure that results. The differences in the nature of the two diffusion processes with regard to the amount of the diffused silver in the films and the changes in the backbone structure of the hosting film are presented and discussed. Ag diffusion in this particular chalcogenide glass composition results in the formation of a phase separated structure formed by the Ge-Se backbone and Ag2Se or Ag nanocrystals. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.