Structural studies on Te-rich Ge-Te melts

The structure of liquid Ge15Te85, Ge25Te75 and Ge33Te67 alloys has been studied by neutron and x-ray diffraction. Datasets obtained by the two techniques have been modelled simultaneously with the reverse Monte Carlo simulation method. As a result, the first coordination numbers and nearest neighbour distances for the studied alloys were estimated. On the basis of the experimental data, Ge-Ge bonding appears to be present in liquid Ge25Te75 and Ge33Te67. It has been found that temperature dependences of the physico-chemical properties correlate with the structural changes in liquid Ge15Te85