High-pressure effects in SiAsTe amorphous chalcogenide glasses fabricated under microgravity environment

Abstract

The effect of high pressure on electrical properties has been investigated for two sets of Si 9As 14Te 21 ternary chalcogenide amorphous semiconductor samples, fabricated either in a microgravity environment (rocket or spacelab) or under the gravity environment of earth. The primary effect of pressure is a decrease in interatomic distances; the compression gives rise to changes in electronic structure and a transition from semiconductor to metal. For pressures up to 3 GPa, the decrease of the resistivity of space-made materials is not significant compared with the terrestrially-made materials, whereas for higher pressures the change in resistivity of both kinds of material is similar in shape and extends for the same orders of magnitude.