PRESSURE-INDUCED METALLIZATION IN AL-AS-TE GLASSES

Electrical resistivity measurements have been undertaken on bulk Al-As -Te glasses at pressures up to 8 GPa and to 80 K in a Bridgman anvil s etup. The samples have been found to show a continuous decrease in res istivity with increasing pressures. The activation energy of electrica l conduction is also found to decrease monotonically, indicating a pre ssure-induced semiconductor-metal transformation in Al-As-Te glasses. The metallization pressures of Al-As-Te samples increase with increasi ng Al content. The high-pressure metallic phases of Al-As-Te samples a re found to be amorphous. The results show that the high-pressure beha viour of Al-As-Te glasses are closer to that of As-Te glasses than to that of Al-Te glasses.