Optically-induced darkening and crystallization in amorphous Ag–Sb–S films

The amorphous films of Sb33S67 and Agx(Sb0.33S0.67)100−x composition, where x was between 0 and 25 at.% Ag, were prepared by different techniques, i.e. by vacuum evaporation, optically-induced silver dissolution into the binary Sb–S chalcogenides deposited by vacuum evaporation or by spin-coating techniques. Ternary Ag–Sb–S amorphous films were also prepared directly by pulsed laser deposition. We have studied effect of silver content in the host materials and Ar+ ion laser exposure on optical properties and structure of the films. The optically-induced darkening and crystallization was proved in studied films and their potential application in optical memories could be expected.