Electrical properties and structure of chalcogenide glasses containing bivalent tin

Two valence states of tin atoms are identified by Mossbauer and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in (As2Se3)(1-z)(GeSe)(z-x)(SnSe)(x) glasses; it is shown that the presence of bivalent tin in the structural network of a glass does not give rise to impurity conductivity and impurity optical absorption. It is suggested to regard (AS(2)Se(3))(1-z)(GeSe)(z-x)(SnSe)(x) and (AsSe3)(1-z)(GeSe2)(z-x)(SnSe2)(x) glasses as semiconductor solid solutions whose electrical properties depend both on the electrical properties of the starting components and on the composition of the solid solutions.