A study of thermal crystallization in Se70Te30-xSbx glassy alloys

The time dependence of dc conductivity for different compositions of the amorphous semiconducting system Se70Te30-xSbx (0≤x≤10) has been studied at various temperatures in the range 70-100 C. An attmpt is made to fit the experimental data to the crystallization theory of Avrami, giving the activation energy of crystallization and the order parameter. An increase in the activation energy of crystallization upto 4 at% of Sb is attributed to an increased disorder. However, at higher concentration of Sb, an ordered structure may be established due to the formation of micro-crystalline phases, as observed in X-ray diffraction patterns, which may result in the decrease of activation energy after 4 at% of Sb. (orig.)