The role of Mn doping on the electrical and mechanical properties of Ge–Se–Mn glasses

Abstract

The present study concerns the impact of adding Mn content on the electrical, thermoelectrical, and mechanical properties of ternary Ge–Se–Mn glassy materials. The activation energies for the electric (ΔEdc) and thermoelectric (ΔEth) conduction of different compositions of $$ \left( {{\text{Ge}}_{1} {\text{Se}}_{2} } \right)_{100 - x} {\text{Mn}}_{x} \left( {0.0 \le x \le 12.0 \;{\text{at}}.\% .} \right) $$ thin films were estimated. The elastic moduli such as longitudinal (L-), shearing (S-), young (Y-), and bulk (K-) modulus as well as microhardness (H), Poisson’s ratio (σ), and Debye temperature (TD) for the studied glasses were investigated. The obtained values of ΔEdc, ΔEth, and the molar volume were decreasing, whereas the glass density, L, S, Y, K, H, σ, and TD, were increasing with increasing Mn content. The values of K were correlated with the electronegativity ($$ \Delta \chi $$) and the bandgap (Eg = 2 (ΔEdc)). Eg decreased from 1.737 to 1.421 eV with increasing the Mn content from 0 to 12 at. %. The estimated values of K based on $$ \Delta \chi $$ and/or Eg are found in excellent agreement with that experimentally determined. The obtained results were discussed in terms of the electronic polarizability.