Crystallization kinetics of two overlapped phases in As40Te50In10 glass

Bulk As40Te50In10 glass was prepared using the melt-quench technique. Differential thermal analyses (DTA) of the quenched glass at different heating rates (5 ≤ α ≤ 30 °C/min) have shown two overlapped crystalline phases. The overlapped crystalline phases are separated successfully using Gaussian fit method. The average values of the activation energy for crystallization (Ec) for the first and second crystallization peak equal 128.4 ± 0.8 and 171.8 ± 0.7 kJ/mole, respectively. The reaction order calculated for both crystalline phases has the same value (n = 1.42 ± 0.2) which indicates that their crystallization mechanisms are similar. As a result of thermal annealing at temperature close to the on-set temperature of the second peak, amorphous–crystalline transformations have been occurred inside the studied glass. The induced crystalline phases are identified from comparing X-ray peaks with PDF data as AsTe and As2Te3 phases. The electron microscope micrographs of the as-prepared and annealed specimens confirm the X-ray diffractograms and the results obtained from DSC measurements.