SEARCH FOR THERMAL METASTABILITY IN CHALCOGENIDE GLASSES

Thermal metastability in bulk and thin film chalcogenide glasses is st udied by measuring conductivity after cooling them at different rates from a temperature higher than their glass transition temperature, T(g ). No changes are observed for the two chalcogenides studied. In contr ast, the phosphorus doped a-Si:H films show a large effect, with equil ibration temperature T(E) close to T(g). This surprising absence of th e thermal metastability in chalcogenide glasses is discussed in terms of hydrogen glass model for a-Si:H and is attributed to the absence of hydrogen in chalcogenides.