Characterization of physicochemical properties of As2Se3-GeTe-AgI chalcohalide glasses for solar cell and IR applications: influence of adding AgI

This work deals with the study of the influence of adding AgI content on the physicochemical properties of (0.5As(2)Se(3)-0.5GeTe)(100-x)(AgI)(x) chalcohalide glassy system. The molar volume, excess volume, packing density, and compactness were determined. The number of coordination (average), number of constraints, cross-linking density as well as mean bond energy were computed and were found to decrease by adding AgI content. Floppy modes and average single bond energy were found to decrease. A linear relationship linking the heat of atomization to the cohesive energy was proved. Different estimates showed that the optical band gap decreased, and good agreement was found with the experimental results. The results of these estimates were used to determine the positions of the valence and conduction bands. The study also explains the interdependence between physiochemical properties and the optical band gap.