Eur. Phys. J. Appl. Phys. 31, 153-158 (2005)
https://doi.org/10.1051/epjap:2005048

Calorimetric studies of glass forming ability and thermal stability in a-Se₈₀ Te_19.5 M_0.5 (M = Ag, Cd, In, Sb) alloys

¹ Department of Physics, Harcourt Butler Technological Institute, Kanpur – 208 002, India
² Department of Physics, D. B. S. College, Kanpur – 208 006, India

Corresponding author: dr_ashok_kumar@yahoo.com

Received: 9 November 2004
Revised: 23 May 2005
Accepted: 8 June 2005
Published online: 18 August 2005

Abstract

The glass formation and divitrification of a-Se₈₀Te_19.5M_0.5 (M = Ag, Cd, In, Sb) alloys were studied by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). A comparison of various simple quantitative methods to assess the level of the stability of these glassy alloys is presented. All of these methods are based on characteristic temperatures such as the glass transition temperature (T_g), on-set crystallization temperature (T_o) at which crystallization begins, peak crystallization temperature (T_c) at which the crystallization rate is maximum and melting temperature (T_m). The Hruby number (H_r), which is the strong indicator of Glass Forming Tendency (GFT) and thermal stability parameter (S) representing resistance to divitrification have also been evaluated for these glassy alloys. The stability criteria based on Arrhenius dependence of rate constant K(T) are also studied. The stability of these glasses has been evaluated experimentally and correlated with the activation energy of the crystallization by the kinetic K(T) criteria and it is compared with S criterion.