Region of glass formation and main physicochemical properties of glasses from the As2Se3–Ag4SSe–PbTe system

•New chalcogenide material from the As2Se3–Ag4SSe–PbTe system were synthesized.•The region of glass formation in the As2Se3–Ag4SSe–PbTe system was outlined.•The temperatures of phase transitions of some glasses were determined.•The density and the Vickers microhardness of the glasses were measured.•The composition–property dependencies are discussed.

New chalcogenide materials from the As2Se3–Ag4SSe–PbTe system were synthesized by melt quenching technique. The state of the samples (glassy, crystalline, glassy + crystalline) has been proven by visual, XRD and AFM analyses. On the basis of the obtained results the region of glass formation within the As2Se3–Ag4SSe–PbTe system was outlined. It lies partially on the As2Se3–Ag4SSe (0–25 mol% Ag4SSe) and As2Se3–PbTe (50–100 mol% As2Se3) sides. No glassy phases were obtained in the binary Ag4SSe–PbTe system.Depending on the glass composition the temperatures of glass-transition, crystallization and melting vary between 113–140 °С, 170–209 °С and 299–368 °С, respectively, and increase with the increase of Ag4SSe and the decrease of PbTe content. The density and microhardness values of chalcogenide glasses change in the interval 4.47–5.93 g/cm3 and 56–67 kgf/mm2 depending on the [Ag4SSe]/[As2Se3 + Ag4SSe] ratio and the PbTe concentration.