Effect of radiation on some glasses in the system As4Sesub(x)Tesub(6-x)

The effect of neutron and gamma radiation on the electrical properties of three glasses in the system As4Sesub(x)Tesub(6-x), with x=1,2 and 4, has been studied under different conditions of dose rates, annealing and/or irradiation. The results showed that there is no detectable effect on the temperature dependence of dc conductivity for the samples treated under pure irradiation or under pure thermal annealing. The samples were annealed at isothermal temperatures less than the glass transition temperature Tsub(g), and the conductivity measurements were carried in the temperature range from less than Tsub(g) and down to the liquid nitrogen temperature. A detectable effect is observed for the samples treated with composed doses of thermal and gamma irradiation. This effect changes with the dose rate, more pronounced in the low temperature range and is a compositional dependent. X-ray diffraction was used to examine the effect of the composed doses on the structure of the tested materials. An even more ''amorphous'' state is produced. This is attributed to the creation of defect centres, increasing with the dose rate till an equilibrium value is approached. (author)