Composition dependence of photoconductivity of As-S-Se-Te-I chalcogenide glasses

Dependence of steady-state photoconductivity on the composition of bulk glasses of the (As2S3)100−x(AsSe0.5Te0.5I)x quasi-binary cut was investigated. The photoconductivity maximum is absent, and up to the softening temperature a dominant mechanism is bimolecular recombination. At increased concentrations of (AsSe0.5Te0.5I) structural units decreases the intensity of photodegradation with light soaked samples. Activation energies of photoconductivity are by ∼0.1 eV lower than the energies of thermal activation of dark electrical conductivity. Parameters of photoinduced changes have an inflexion point located close to the composition around the middle of the selected quasi-binary cut.