AC conductivity and electrical relaxation of a promising Ag2S-Ge-Te-Se chalcogenide glassy system

In this study, we developed a chalcogenide glassy system comprising (Ag2S)(x)-(0.4Ge-0.3Te-0.3Se)(1-x), where x = 0.05, 0.10, and 0.20. The formation of Ag2S and GeSe2 nanocrystallites with small sizes and the development of GeTe, Ag2GeS3, TeS, and Se5.95Te1.05 phases with high Ag2S contents were confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The Fourier transform-infrared spectra demonstrated the characteristic vibration of Ag-S at 500-600 cm(-1). Kinetic analysis of conductivity suggested that the Meyer-Neldel energy was due to polarons hopping from trap to trap induced by multiple phonon excitation. Tunneling of polarons through the grain boundary when x = 0.1 could be interpreted based on the modified non-overlapping small polaron tunneling model. By contrast, the correlated barrier hopping model was more appropriate for explaining the dominant conduction mechanism when x = 0.05 and 0.2. The lower relaxation times when x = 0.05 and 0.2 indicated a higher rate of polaron hopping. The temperature independence of the relaxation process was confirmed based on the scaling process.