Effect of Ag addition on crystallization kinetics and thermal stability of As–Se chalcogenide glasses

Chalcogenide glasses of (As 50 Se 50 ) 100−x Ag x (0 ≤ x ≤ 25) were prepared using the melt quenching technique under non-isothermal conditions. Differential scanning calorimetry curves measured at different heating rates (5 ≤ β ≤ 40 K min −1 ) are used to characterize the as-quenched samples. The thermal stability was monitored through the calculation of the temperature difference T c − T g , stability parameter S and crystallization rate factor K p . The glass-forming ability (GFA) was investigated on the basis of Hurby parameter H r which is a strong indicator of GFA. In addition, the activation energy of glass transition E t , activation energy of crystallization E c and Avrami exponent n of the studied compositions were determined. The mechanism of crystallization was found to be a combination of two- and three-dimensional crystal growth.