Investigation of impact of antimony (Sb) nanoparticles incorporation on structural, dielectric, and electrical properties of Se76-xGe14As10Sbx (x = 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12) glasses

Abstract

Chalcogenide glasses of composition Se<inf>76-x</inf>Ge<inf>14</inf>As<inf>10</inf>Sb<inf>x</inf> (x = 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12 %) were prepared using Sb nanoparticles by traditional melt quenching procedure. Structural analysis reveals that Sb forms bonds with Se at lower atm.%, however, at higher atm.%, other heteropolar bonds are also formed. Their dielectric properties and a.c. conductivity were studied in the frequency range of 20.20 – 1010.10 kHz and the temperature range of 300 – 345 K, respectively. A temperature and frequency dependence of the dielectric constant was observed, indicating orientation polarization in the system. The dielectric constant increases with the incorporation of Sb nanoparticles. However, a slight decrease is noticed for x = 12. The variations in dielectric loss with temperature and frequency were explained by polaron hopping of charge carriers and conduction loss, as per the Elliot and Shimakawa hypothesis. The a.c. conductivity was found to be ∼ 10−4 (Ω-m)−1 for prepared alloys. The conduction mechanism shows a change from Correlated Barrier Hopping (CBH) to the Non-Overlapping Polaron Tunneling (NSPT) at a particular temperature for all the alloys. © 2025 Elsevier B.V.