Calorimetric study of characteristic temperatures and crystallization behavior in Ge–As–Se–Te glass system Original Research Article

Results of differential scanning calorimetry of high purity GexAs40−xSe40Te20 (x=0–40) chalcogenide glasses are reported. The glass transition temperatures and crystallization behavior were studied under non-isothermal conditions at different heating rates (2.5–35 K/min). The glass transition temperature changes from 140 °C up to 320 °C with increasing the Ge content in GexAs40−xSe40Te20 glass. The studied glasses with x≤35 have no exothermal peaks of crystallization, indicating their high glass-forming ability. The glass of Ge40Se40Te20 composition has one-stage glass transition and double-stage crystallization process during phase change. The activation energy of the glass transition (Eg), the activation energy of crystallization (Ec), the Avrami exponent (n), the frequency factor (K0) and the crystallization criteria of Ge40Se40Te20 glass were determined.