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Surface crystallization in fine powder Se70Te30 chalcogenide glass was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and optical microscopy. A complex kinetic analysis of these experimental data reveals that the contracting sphere mechanism (R3 model) is the rate determining step of crystal growth, and the conventional Johnson–Mehl–Avrami–Kolmogorov model cannot be used in this case. Moreover, it is clearly shown that the particle size distribution should be considered in crystallization studies. Actually, when the particle size effect is taken into account, the simulated DSC curves for the R3 model agree very well with the experimental data over the entire temperature range. The crystallization kinetics determined from the nonisothermal DSC data are consistent with previously reported isothermal crystallization data for the same powder fraction. The crystal growth rate calculated from isothermal and nonisothermal DSC data agrees very well with the microscopically measured surface and bulk crystal growth rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chalcogenide glass-formers are being used in a remarkable range of various optoelectronic, photonics, photoconducting, sensing and memory device applications. The knowledge of viscosity is essential for the processing of any glass-forming material, in particular for the fabrication of precise optical elements, which is the main application field of chalcogenide glasses. This work presents an extensive collection of all available viscosity data for chalcogenides, including the measurement methods. The Mauro–Yue–Ellison–Gupta–Allan (MYEGA), Arrhenius and VFT equations are used to fit the temperature dependences of viscosity. The viscosity glass transition temperatures, fragilities and apparent activation energies are calculated from these fits. Consequently, these parameters are discussed with regard to the compositional evolution of the respective chalcogenide systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]