Structure and thermal analysis of Se100 − x(SbSn)x chalcogenide glasses

• The structure and thermal behavior of Se–Sb–Sn glasses have been studied.
• The addition of SbSn leads to the increase of the density and rigidity of Se100 − x(SbSn)x glasses.
• Both the activation energy of glass transition and crystallization are increased with increasing SbSn content.
• Kinetic resistance toward crystallization of Se–Sb–Sn glasses is higher than that of amorphous Se.
• The thermal stability has been improved therefore, the glass forming ability was increased.

Se100 − x(Sb0.5Sn0.5)x (3 ≤ x ≤ 12 at.%) glassy alloys were prepared using the melt quenching technique. The amorphous nature of the as-prepared samples was confirmed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the effect of the addition of Sb0.5Sn0.5 content on the glass transition and crystallization kinetics of amorphous Se has been studied. The glass transition temperature (Tg) was increased with increasing content of Sb0.5Sn0.5. This behaviour was discussed in terms of glass density (ρ), cohesive energy (CE) and the overall mean bond energy . The values of the activation energy of crystallization were increased with increasing Sb0.5Sn0.5 content that was confirmed by increasing the Hruby's parameter (Krg) with the increase of Sb0.5Sn0.5 content. Furthermore, the difference between Tc and Tg was increased due to the delay in nucleation process. This leads to the enhancement of the thermal stability and consequently the glass forming ability.