Electrical conductivity and optical properties of annealed  (As2S3)1-xAgx alloys

Editorial Board PCSS Journal; V.M. Kryshenik; I.M. Voynarovych; A.I. Pogodin; M.J. Filep; V.V. Halyan; M.M. Pop; V.V. Rubish; T.Y. Babuka; A.V. Gomonnai

doi:10.15330/pcss.27.2.372-381

Authors

V.M. Kryshenik Institute of Electron Physics, Nat. Acad. Sci. Ukr., Uzhhorod, Ukraine
I.M. Voynarovych Institute of Electron Physics, Nat. Acad. Sci. Ukr., Uzhhorod, Ukraine
A.I. Pogodin Uzhhorod National University, Uzhhorod, Ukraine
M.J. Filep Institute of Electron Physics, Nat. Acad. Sci. Ukr., Uzhhorod, Ukraine; Ferenc Rákóczi II Transcarpathian Hungarian University, Berehovo, Ukraine
V.V. Halyan Lesia Ukrainka Volyn National University, Lutsk, Ukraine
M.M. Pop Uzhhorod National University, Uzhhorod, Ukraine
V.V. Rubish Institute of Electron Physics, Nat. Acad. Sci. Ukr., Uzhhorod, Ukraine
T.Y. Babuka Uzhhorod National University, Uzhhorod, Ukraine
A.V. Gomonnai Institute of Electron Physics, Nat. Acad. Sci. Ukr., Uzhhorod, Ukraine

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15330/pcss.27.2.372-381

Keywords:

amorphous chalcogenides, DC and AC electric conductivity, optical absorption edge, refractive index

Abstract

The paper presents the results of study of physical properties of synthesised by melt quenching and thermally annealed (As₂S₃)_1-xAg_x (0.04 ≤ x ≤ 0.40) alloys depending on the silver content. Temperature dependences of the electric conductivity of the alloys under study measured in the 293 to 413 K range in the direct and alternate current (DC and AC) modes showed that the dominating mechanism is thermally activated charge-carrier hopping mediated by delocalised states in the tails close to the energy bandgap boundaries and localised states close to the Fermi level. Thermal activation energy for the alloy ionic conductivity estimated from the Arrhenius plots increases with silver content. For bulk (As₂S₃)_1-xAg_x samples with x = 0.30 and 0.40 AC electric conductivity studies revealed the presence of two components in the charge transfer mechanism due to specific features of their inhomogeneous structure. The effect of the increasing Ag content in the (As₂S₃)_1-xAg_x alloys on the optical absorption edge, energy bandgap, and refractive index dispersion in the visible and infrared ranges is studied. For thermally annealed alloys with high Ag content the optical bandgap shrinks and the refractive index increases.

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