Investigation of some thermo-mechanical and dielectric properties in multi-component chalcogenide glasses of Se–Te–Sn–Ag quaternary system

Abstract

The present work is based on the studies of some thermo-mechanical and dielectric properties in novel glassy Se78−xTe20Sn2Agx (x = 0, 2, 4, 6) system. For this, we have measured micro-hardness using micro-indentation method. The thermo-mechanical parameters such as micro-volume (Vh), formation energy (Eh) of micro-voids in the glassy network and modulus of elasticity (E) have been evaluated using their correlations with micro-hardness and glass transition temperature. Frequency and temperature dependences of dielectric constant, dielectric loss and a.c. conductivity are studied for Se78−xTe20Sn2Agx (x = 0, 2, 4, 6) system in the frequency range (1 KHz–1000 KHz) and temperature range (303 K–333 K). This temperature range is chosen below the glass transition temperatures of each sample. The composition dependence of aforesaid thermo-mechanical and dielectric properties has been analyzed in terms of average coordination number <r>.