Post-irradiation relaxation in vitreous arsenic/antimony trisulphides

Instability caused by high-energy γ-irradiation was studied in (As2S3)1−x(Sb2S3)x glasses (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3) using positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy, the obtained results being treated within a two-state trapping model. The observed decrease in the positron trapping rate of the glasses tested just after irradiation was explained due to renovation of destroyed covalent chemical bonds. This process was governed by monomolecular relaxation kinetics agreed well with corresponding changes in fundamental optical absorption edge.