Properties of As–Te alloys and their reactions with Zn substrate

The equilibrium phase relationship, glass formation, glass transition temperature, microhardness and density of As–Te alloys are examined. It is found that the available As–Te equilibrium phase diagram might not be correct, and a possible phase diagram is proposed. As–Te glasses are formed in quenching processes, and the As–Te alloys in the compositional range near As0.5Te0.5 have the highest glass formation ability (GFA). Besides studies of the properties of As–Te alloys, their interfacial reactions with Zn substrate are also investigated. ZnTe phase is formed in the As0.271Te0.729 alloy/Zn reaction couple annealed at 380 and 395°C. Schematic isothermal sections of the As–Te–Zn ternary systems are proposed based on the limited ternary phase equilibria data and the equilibrium phase diagrams of its three constituent binary systems. The reaction paths of the As–Te/Zn couples in both temperatures are liquid/ZnTe/Zn, and are consistent with the proposed isothermal sections.