Hindawi Publishing Corporation

Journal of Materials
Volume 2014, Article ID 318262, 8 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/318262

Research Article
Effect of Sn Addition on Thermal and Optical Properties of
Pb9Se71Ge20−𝑥Sn𝑥 (8 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 12) Glass

Vivek Modgil and V. S. Rangra

Department of Physics, Himachal Pradesh University, Summerhill, Shimla 171005, India

Correspondence should be addressed to Vivek Modgil; [email protected]

Received 10 November 2013; Revised 23 February 2014; Accepted 24 February 2014; Published 27 March 2014

Academic Editor: Te-Hua Fang

Copyright © 2014 V. Modgil and V. S. Rangra. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly
cited.

Study of thermal and optical parameters of Pb9 Se71 Ge20−𝑥 Sn𝑥 (8 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 12) glass has been undertaken. Crystallization and glass
transition kinetics has been investigated under nonisothermal conditions by DSC technique. Phase separation has been observed
in the material and is investigated by taking the XRD of annealed bulk samples. The material possesses good glass forming ability,
high value of glass transition temperature about 420 K, and glass stability. Optical band gap and other optical constants such as
refractive index and extinction coefficient have been determined. The isoelectronic substitution of Ge with Sn in the glassy system
reduces the optical band gap and enhances the thermal properties.

1. Introduction The better optical and thermal properties of these mate-

rials make them of potential use in the technological appli-
In amorphous semiconductors, among inorganic glassy cations such as in photonics and phase change memories
materials, chalcogenide glasses occupy a unique place in because of higher values of refractive index and lower
material science towards advancement of technology. Gener- value of phonon energy of these glasses [5, 6]. The present
ally these materials are weakly bonded materials than oxide Investigation on phase change memories (PCM) shows the
glasses. But in comparison with amorphous silicon, halide possibility of obtaining multistate behavior, enhanced ability
glasses, and other group IV tetrahedral bonded semiconduc- to withstand thermal cycling, and use of lower voltages for
tors these materials exhibit the superior properties which achieving desired phase change response by using the bilayers
can be tailored by varying the composition. The physical of Ge-chalcogenide and Sn-chalcogenide [7].
properties such as optical band gap, dielectric behavior, Germanium is a good glass former and has good glass
and conductivity of chalcogenide glasses mark their strong forming region with Se but has the disadvantage that the Ge
dependency on lone pair electrons and density of defect states compositions have the wide optical band gap which results in
in the band tails [1, 2]. The disorder in amorphous semi- the intrinsic optical loss and causes problem in long distance
conductors causes perturbation in density of state functions fiber communication. In order to remove such discrepancies
resulting in band tails at the edges of the bottom of the chalcogen elements are added with heavy elements. Many
conduction band and the top of the valence band [3]. The researchers have carried out their work on this type of
lone pair orbits have higher energy than the bonding states compositions such as Ge-Sb-Se, Ge-Sn-Se [8, 9], and Ge-Sn-
and hence occupy the top of the valence band. Interactions Sb-Se [10] to improve the optical properties. These materials
between lone pair electrons with their local environment and can be used in the photonic crystal applications due to their
different atoms result in localized states in the band tails [4]. higher value of refractive index. Photonic crystals are the
These localized states play crucial role in deciding optical materials which are used in photonic applications, such as
properties of the materials. optical band gap devices and omnidirectional reflectors [6].
2 Journal of Materials

900 powdered sample is used for DSC analysis. Each sample is

heated at different heating rates 10, 15, 20, and 25∘ k/minute.
800 We have found that material’s samples at 𝑥 = 11, 12 have
700 double crystallization peaks which are due to the phase
separation in the material. We have annealed the bulk sample
Intensity (counts/s)

600 𝑥 = 11 at temperatures 507 K and 550 K for 3 hours to

500 detect the phases separated in the material. Then XRDs of
samples have been taken. Figure 4 shows the XRD patterns
400
of the annealed samples (𝑥 = 11). To find out the band gap
300 and other optical constants, thin films of chalcogenide glasses
have been deposited by vacuum evaporation technique on
200
thoroughly cleaned microscope glass substrate. The room-
100 temperature optical transmission and absorption spectra (not
shown here) at normal incidence, of the samples, are recorded
0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 over the 200 nm to 2500 nm spectral region, by a double-
beam UV/Vis/NIR spectrophotometer (Perkin-Elmer, model
Angle (2𝜃)
Lambda-750).
x=8 x = 11
x=9 x = 12
x = 10
3. Results and Discussions
Figure 1: X-ray diffractograms of the chalcogenide glass
Pb9 Se71 Ge20−𝑥 Sn𝑥 (8 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 12). 3.1. Structural and Thermal Analysis. XRD diffractograms of
the Pb9 Se71 Ge20−𝑥 Sn𝑥 (𝑥 = 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 at.%) composi-
tions are shown in Figure 1 which confirm the amorphous
nature of material. In the diffractograms of glasses there
It is necessary to have the knowledge of thermal stability are two types of halos, one big halo in 2𝜃 range 25∘ –
and glass-forming ability (GFA) of material to know its 35∘ , confirming the polymeric nature and the short range
suitability for the particular technological application before order of the material and appearing predominately in all
crystallization takes place. The addition of elemental impurity the diffractograms. The second small halo is between 45∘
such as Ge, Sn, In, and Pb has a pronounced effect on and 55∘ ; this halo appears slightly at 𝑥 = 10 but appears
structural, optical, electronic, and thermal properties of ma- significantly for samples 𝑥 = 11, 12. That is because of partial
terial [11–15]. The addition of Sn may expand and create phase separation in the material caused due to increasing
compositional and configurational disorder in material and concentration of Sn in the material.
accordingly modifies the properties. The Sn has been added When the material is heated under nonisothermal con-
in Pb-Se-Ge system to see the effect of Sn incorporation on ditions at constant heating rate in DSC experiment, glass
thermal and optical behaviors of this material. undergoes the structural variations and crystallizes. The
variation of glass transition temperature, crystallization tem-
2. Experimental Details perature, with varying Sn concentration can be studied by
comparing the DSC thermograms of all samples at the
2.1. Material Synthesis and Characterization. The chalco- same heating rate. Figure 2 shows the DSC thermograms of
genide materials Pb9 Se71 Ge20−𝑥 Sn𝑥 (8 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 12 at.%) are Pb9 Se71 Ge20−𝑥 Sn𝑥 (8 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 12 at.%) material at a heating
prepared by the melt quenching technique. Granules of Pb rate of 10 K min−1 . To know the thermodynamics of the
and powder of Sn, Ge, and Se having 99.999% purity are used. material such as phase transformation, activation energy of
The material is then sealed in evacuated (∼10−5 Torr) quartz glass transition, and crystallization, each sample is heated at
ampoule (length ∼15 cm and internal diameter ∼8 mm). The four different heating rates. Figure 3 shows the DSC thermo-
ampoules containing material are heated to 1000∘ C and held grams of 𝑥 = 12 at different heating rates. Similar variation
at that temperature for 10 hours. The temperature of the in the thermograms of other samples has been observed at
furnace is raised slowly at a rate of 3-4∘ C per minute. During different heating rates.
heating, the ampoule is constantly rocked. The obtained melt The glass up to atomic percentage 𝑥 = 10 of Sn shows the
is quenched in ice cool water. The nature of the material is single crystallization peak and at 𝑥 = 11, 12 shows the double
ascertained by powder X-ray diffraction technique. For this, crystallization peaks. This appearance of double crystalliza-
X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of sample are taken at room tion is because of partial phase separation in material. Phase
temperature by using an X-ray diffractometer PANalytical separation is the unmixing of the initially homogeneous mul-
X’pert Pro (PW 3050/60, CuK𝛼1 𝜆 = 1.54 Å) shown in ticomponent material in to two or more amorphous phases.
Figure 1. The driving potential for unmixing process is the reduction
The thermal behavior of the material has been studied in the system free energy. Phase separation occurs when the
using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) under non- free energy of another phase or polyphase is less than that
isothermal conditions using DSC instrument Mettler Star of initially homogeneous single phase composition. In order
SW 9.01 model. Approximately 15–20 mg quantity of each to identify the phases in material, the initial glassy sample
Journal of Materials 3

Heat flow (mw)

Tg Tp1 25 K/min
Tp2

100 150 200 250 300 350 400

Temperature (K)
Heat flow (mw)

427

Heat flow (mw)

426
425 20 K/min
424
Tg (K)

423
422
421
420 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
419
Temperature (K)
8 9 10 11 12

Heat flow (mw)

At wt.% of Sn
400 500 600 700 15 K/min
Temperature (K)

x=8 x = 11 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

x=9 x = 12
Temperature (K)
x = 10

Figure 2: DSC thermograms of the samples at heating rate of Heat flow (mw) 10 K/min
10 K/min.

100 150 200 250 300 350 400

Pb9 Se71 Ge9 Sn11 is annealed at 507 K and 550 K for 3hours, Temperature (K)
which lies before the primary and secondary crystallization, Figure 3: DSC thermograms of Pb9 Se71 Ge8 Sn12 at different heating
respectively. The annealed samples are then passed through rate.
XRD.
Figure 4 shows the XRD patterns of the annealed samples.
After annealing the samples for 3 hours, we have observed Table 1: The values of glass transition temperature, 𝐴 and 𝐵
constants from Lasocka formulation, and activation energy of
the two major phases SnSe2 and GeSe2 and minor phase
samples by Kissinger and Moynihan approach.
PbSe as marked in XRD diffractograms. GeSe2 has mono-
clinic structure and lattice parameters 𝑎 = 7.231 Å, 𝑏 = Lasocka approach Kissinger Moynihan
𝑥 𝑇𝑔
16.748 Å, and 𝑐 = 11.79 Å [JCPDS file card no. 30-0595]. 𝐴 𝐵 (min) 𝐸𝑔 (kJ/mol) 𝐸𝑔 (kJ/mol)
The SnSe2 structure is formed in such a way that Sn layer is 8 426.34 412.920 5.700 254.062 261.183
sandwiched between the two Se layers facing towards each
9 425.72 413.505 4.918 224.536 231.656
other. The SnSe2 has the hexagonal structure having 𝑎 =
10 423.72 413.840 4.212 338.300 345.364
3.84 Å, 𝑏 = 1.61 Å, and 𝑐 = 6.18 Å [JCPDS file card no. 38-
1055] and Pb-Se phase has the cubic structure whose lattice 11 421.21 411.550 4.034 314.118 321.182
parameter is 𝑎 = 6.089 Å. When the sample is annealed at 12 419.10 407.556 4.918 285.947 293.011
temperature 550 K, mainly GeSe2 phase remains and other
phases reduce to a large extent.
On the basis of chemical bond approach [16], with two approaches. The first approach is the empirical relation
increase of Sn content, glass transition temperature decreases suggested by Lasocka [17]:
because Ge-Se bonds are replaced by the Sn-Se bonds. From
Figure 4 it is clear that glass at 𝑥 = 11, 12 has been phase 𝑇𝑔 = 𝐴 + 𝐵 ln 𝛼, (1)
separated into two main phases, one Ge-rich and the other
Sn-rich. The higher and lower 𝑇𝑐 may be due to Ge-rich and where 𝐴 and 𝐵 are constants for a given glass composition.
Sn-rich phase, respectively. The value of 𝐴 indicates the glass transition temperature for
the heating rate of 1 K min−1 , while the value of 𝐵 determines
the time response of configurational changes within the glass
3.2. Kinetics of Phase Transformations transition region to the heating rate, shown in Table 1. This
equation is found to hold well for all samples. Figure 5
3.2.1. Glass Transition Region. The variations of glass transi- depicts the plots of 𝑇𝑔 versus ln(𝛼) for the investigated
tion temperature, activation energy of glass transition (𝐸𝑔 ) Pb9 Se71 Ge20−𝑥 Sn𝑥 glassy system.
with composition have been studied. The dependence of The second approach Kissinger equation shows the
𝑇𝑔 on heating rate (𝛼) is hereby discussed on the basis of dependence of 𝑇𝑔 on heating rate [18, 19]. This equation is
4 Journal of Materials

@
2500
1000
2000
(counts/s)
Intensity

800

(counts/s)
Intensity
1500 # 600
@ @#
1000 400 @ @
@ @ # ## ## #
500 @ $ ## # # $ 200 @ @ @@ $ $ ## #$
0 0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Angle (2𝜃) Angle (2𝜃)
# SnSe2 # SnSe2
@ GeSe2 @ GeSe2
$ PbSe $ PbSe
(a) (b)

Figure 4: X-ray diffractograms of sample Pb9 Se71 Ge9 Sn11 annealed at (a) 550 K and (b) 507 K.

432 −8.8
431
430 −9.0
429
428
−9.2
427
ln(𝛼/Tg2 )
426
Tg (K)

425 −9.4
424
423 −9.6
422
421
420 −9.8
419
2.360 2.365 2.370 2.375 2.380 2.385 2.390
2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3.0 3.2
1000/Tg
ln(𝛼)
x=8 x = 11
x = 12 x=9 x=9 x = 12
x = 11 x=8 x = 10
x = 10
Figure 6: Plot between ln(𝛼/𝑇𝑔2 ) and 1000/𝑇𝑔 from Kissinger
Figure 5: Plot of ln 𝛼 against 𝑇𝑔 . equation.

used to find out the activation energy of glass transition. of the straight line gives the activation energy of glass tran-
Kissinger equation is basically used to find activation energy sition. The one more approach used for calculation of acti-
of crystallization process; it can also be used for the deter- vation energy of glass transition is Moynihan’s relation [21]
mination of the activation energy of glass transition using Moynihan has found in his derivation of the dependence of
the peak glass transition temperatures under nonisothermal 𝑇𝑔 on heating rate |𝛼|. Accordingly for a given heating rate
conditions, if similar shift observed in the glass transition
peaks and crystallization peaks with heating rate. As thermal 𝑑 ln |𝛼| −𝐸𝑔
mechanism varies with temperature, the position of peaks ≈ . (3)
𝑑 (1/𝑇𝑔 ) 𝑅
also varies with the heating rate. This temperature shift, in
turn, can be used for the determination of kinetic parameters
of crystallization [20]. Hence Kissinger equation relating the Plots of ln 𝛼 against 1000/𝑇𝑔 are plotted for various glassy
peak glass transition temperature and heating rate is given by alloys shown in Figure 7. The values of activation energies
found by Kissinger and Moynihan approaches are tabulated
−𝐸𝑔 in Table 2.
𝛼
ln ( )= + constant, (2) Activation energy of glass transition decreases as 𝑥 varies
𝑇𝑔2 𝑅𝑇𝑔 from 8 to 9. This is due to entrance of Sn in Pb-Se-Ge network,
which weakens the network and decrease the activation
where 𝑇𝑔 is the peak glass transition temperature and 𝑅 is the energy of glass transition. Thenafter at 𝑥 = 10 this activation
gas constant. energy increases which might be due to replacement of Se-
A graph is plotted between ln(𝛼/𝑇𝑔2 ) and 1000/𝑇𝑔 shown Se bonds by Sn-Se bonds (having large bond energy). The
in Figure 6, which yields a straight line. The slope (−𝐸𝑔 /𝑅) further addition of Sn to the glass matrix replaces mostly
Journal of Materials 5

−9.2
3.2 −9.4
−9.6

−9.4 −9.8

ln(𝛼/Tp2 )
3.0 −10.0
−10.2
−9.6 −10.4

2.8 −10.6

ln(𝛼/Tp2 )
1.692 1.696 1.700 1.704
ln 𝛼

−9.8 1000/Tp

2.6
−10.0
2.4
−10.2
2.2
2.335 2.340 2.345 2.350 2.355 2.360 2.365 −10.4
1000/Tg 1.885 1.886 1.887 1.888 1.889 1.890 1.891 1.892 1.893
1000/Tp
x=8 x = 11
x=9 x = 12 x= 8 x = 11 c2
x = 10 x= 9 x = 12 c2
x= 10
Figure 7: Plots of ln 𝛼 against 1000/𝑇𝑔 glassy alloys from Moynihan x= 11 c1
equation. x= 12 c1

Figure 8: The plot of ln(𝛼/𝑇𝑝2 ) versus 1000/𝑇𝑝 for Kissinger

Table 2: The values of activation energies of crystallization calcu- approach.
lated by Kissinger and Augis and Bennett approaches.
Table 3: Values of refractive index (𝑛), extinction coefficient (𝑘),
Activation energies of crystallization (KJ/mol) optical energy gap (𝐸𝑔opt ), and real part (𝜀𝑟 ) and imaginary part (𝜀𝑖 )
𝑥 Kissinger Augis and Bennett of dielectric constant.
Peak 1 Peak 2 Peak 1 Peak 2
𝑥 𝑛 𝑘 𝐸𝑔opt (eV) 𝜀𝑖 𝜀𝑟
8 205.074 209.794
8 2.21 0.0185 2.76 0.0817 4.8837
9 249.723 254.394 9 2.94 0.0219 2.71 0.1287 8.6431
10 118.924 126.432 10 3.19 0.0384 2.62 0.2449 10.1746
11 204.919 313.630 211.39 324.525 11 3.58 0.0515 2.56 0.3687 12.8137
12 173.512 189.093 178.315 196.375 12 3.71 0.0606 2.48 0.4496 13.7604

(b) Augis and Bennett Method. The activation energy for crys-
the Ge-Se bonds by Sn-Se bonds. So it results in decrease in tallization, 𝐸𝑐 , can be evaluated using the formula suggested
cohesive energy and mean bond energy of the glassy matrix by Augis and Bennett [22] which is given as follows:
as well as the activation energy of glass transition.
𝛼 𝐸
ln ( ) = − ( 𝑐 ) + constant. (5)
𝑇𝑝 𝑅𝑇𝑝
3.2.2. Activation Energy of Crystallization. For the determi-
nation of crystallization kinetics, the established Kissinger The plot of ln(𝛼/𝑇𝑝 ) versus 1000/𝑇𝑝 is shown in Figure 9. The
and Augis-Bennett models are applied. calculated activation energies of crystallization are tabulated
in Table 3.
(a) Kissinger Model. The activation energy for crystallization, The addition of Sn causes the structural disorder in the
𝐸𝑐 , can be obtained from the dependence of peak crystal- glassy matrix; beyond 𝑥 = 10 phase separation in the
lization temperature 𝑇𝑝 on heating rate, using the equation material has been found. Mainly two phases GeSe2 and SnSe2
derived by Kissinger [18, 19]: appear in the material which causes phase splitting and
double crystallization peaks. The peak at high crystallization
temperature is due to GeSe2 phase and at lower temperature
𝛼 −𝐸𝑐 due to SnSe2 phase. We analyze from Table 2 that activa-
ln ( 2
)= + constant. (4)
𝑇𝑝 𝑅𝑇𝑝 tion energies obtained from Augis and Bennett method is
approximately around the activation energies obtained from
the Kissinger’s approach. However, this slight difference in
The plot of ln(𝛼/𝑇𝑝2 ) versus 1000/𝑇𝑝 is shown in Figure 8. The the activation energies obtained by these approaches may be
activation energy of crystallization is calculated from slope of attributed to the different formalism of the equations in these
the straight lines in Figure 8 and tabulated in Table 3. models based on approximations. The addition of Sn has
6 Journal of Materials

−3.0
−3.0 −3.2 1.0
−3.4

ln 𝛼/Tp
−3.6
−3.2 0.8
−3.8
−4.0

Transmission
−3.4 −4.2 0.6 3.5
ln 𝛼/Tp

1.692 1.696 1.700 1.704

1000/Tp 3.0

Extinction coeff. (k)

2.5
−3.6 0.4 2.0
1.5
1.0
−3.8 0.2 0.5
0.0
−0.5
200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
−4.0 0.0 𝜆 (nm)

1.885 1.886 1.887 1.888 1.889 1.890 1.891 1.892 1.893 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
1000/Tp 𝜆 (nm)
x= 8 x = 11 c1 x= 8 x= 8
x= 9 x = 12 c1 x= 9 x= 9
x= 10 x= 10 x= 10
x= 11 x= 11 x= 11
x= 12 x= 12 x= 12

Figure 9: The plot of ln(𝛼/𝑇𝑝 ) versus 1000/𝑇𝑝 for Augis and Bennett Figure 10: The transmission spectrum and variation of extinction
approach. coefficient with wavelength of chalcogenide glass thin films of
Pb9 Se71 Ge20−𝑥 Sn𝑥 .

caused the structural disorder or configurational changes in compositional disorder in material. The value of extinction
the material. Beyond 𝑥 = 10 phase separation in the material coefficient (𝑘) has been calculated using the relation
has been observed. The double crystallization peaks in the
material are due to phase splitting into two amorphous phases 𝛼𝜆
GeSe2 and SnSe2 . In double crystallization peaks, the high 𝑘= , (8)
4𝜋
crystallization temperature peak is due to Ge-rich phase and
peak at lower crystallization temperature is due to Sn-rich where 𝛼 is the absorption coefficient [24] and is given by
phase.
1 1
𝛼= ln ( ) , (9)
𝑑 𝑥
3.3. Optical and Dielectric Parameters. Generally the optical
band gap and refractive index (𝑛) are the basic parameters where 𝑥 is the absorbance. The variations of the extinction
to know the material’s optical behavior. The refractive index coefficient with the wavelength are shown in Figure 10 inset.
changes under the influence of light. The optical constants The optical absorption spectrum is the important tool for
are calculated using Swanepoel’s method. According to studying the band gap of materials. The absorption coefficient
Swanepoel’s method [23, 24], the value of the refractive index of an amorphous semiconductor in the high absorption
of film in the spectral region of medium and weak absorption region can be calculated by using Tauc’s relation [25] 𝛼ℎ] =
𝑚
can be calculated by the expression 𝐵(ℎ] − 𝐸𝑔opt ) where 𝐵 is a constant, 𝐸𝑔opt is the optical energy
gap of the material, and 𝑚 determines the type of transition
1/2 1/2 (𝑚 = 1/2 for the direct transition and 𝑚 = 2 for the indirect
𝑛 = [𝑁 + (𝑁2 − 𝑠2 ) ] , (6) allowed transition).
The values of the optical energy gap (𝐸𝑔opt ) obtained for
where indirect allowed transition for thin films of Pb9 Se71 Ge20−𝑥 Sn𝑥
by making (𝛼ℎ])0.5 → 0 are given in Table 3 and shown
in Figure 11. The optical parameters refractive index (𝑛) and
𝑇𝑀 − 𝑇𝑚 𝑠2 + 1
𝑁 = 2𝑠 + , (7) extinction coefficient 𝑘 have the compositional dependence
𝑇𝑀𝑇𝑚 2 as both increase with increasing Sn content. In covalent
solids, variation in charge density results change in bond
where 𝑇𝑀 and 𝑇𝑚 are the transmission maximum and the polarizability and hence permittivity; this variation alters the
corresponding minimum at a certain wavelength 𝜆. The refractive index and the extinction coefficient of the material
transmission spectra of material are shown in Figure 10. [26]. Optical constants (𝑛, 𝑘) in anisotropic media depend
The spectra for 𝑥 = 8 is different than that for others. on electronic polarization of atoms, ions, or molecules of the
This might be due to some foreign element introduction at the material when subjected to an electric field. The polarization
time of bulk or thin film preparation; this has created some does not respond instantly to an applied field and results in
Journal of Materials 7

1500 Conflict of Interests

1250 The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests
regarding the publication of this paper.
1000

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750
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