Structure, ionic Conductivity and mobile Carrier Density in Fast Ionic Conducting Chalcogenide Glasses

This thesis consists of six sections. The first section gives the basic research background on the ionic conduction mechanism in glass, polarization in the glass, and the method of determining the mobile carrier density in glass. The proposed work is also included in this section. The second section is a paper that characterizes the structure of MI + M2S + (0.1 Ga2S3 + 0.9 GeS2) (M = Li, Na, K and Cs) glasses using Raman and IR spectroscopy. Since the ionic radius plays an important role in determining the ionic conductivity in glasses, the glass forming range for the addition of different alkalis into the basic glass forming system 0.1 Ga2S3 + 0.9 GeS2 was studied. The study found that the change of the alkali radius for the same nominal composition causes significant structure change to the glasses. The third section is a paper that investigates the ionic conductivity of MI + M2S + (0.1Ga2S3 + 0.9 GeS2) (M = Li, Na, K and Cs) glasses system. Corresponding to the compositional changes in these fast ionic conducting glasses, the ionic conductivity shows changes due to the induced structural changes. The ionic radius effect on the ionic conductivity in these glasses was investigated. The fourth section is a paper that examines the mobile carrier density based upon the measurements of space charge polarization. For the first time, the charge carrier number density in fast ionic conducting chalcogenide glasses was determined. The experimental impedance data were fitted using equivalent circuits and the obtained parameters were used to determine the mobile carrier density. The influence of mobile carrier density and mobility on the ionic conductivity was separated. The fifth section is a paper that studies the structures of low-alkali-content Na2S + B2S3 (x (le) 0.2) glasses by neutron and synchrotron x-ray diffraction. Similar results were obtained both in neutron and synchrotron x-ray diffraction experiments. The results provide direct structural evidence that doping B2S3 with Na2S creates a large fraction of tetrahedrally coordinated boron in the glass. The final section is the general conclusion of this thesis and the suggested future work that could be conducted to expand upon this research