† Corresponding author. E-mail:
Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61475189, 61405240, and 61575086), the Natural Science Basic Research Project in Shaanxi Province, China (Grant No. 2015JQ5141), and the Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Laser Materials and Devices, Jiangsu Normal University, China (Grant No. KLALMD-2015-08).
The structures of pseudo-binary GeS2–Sb2S3, GeS2–CdS, Sb2S3–CdS, and pseudo-ternary GeS2–Sb2S3–CdS chalcogenide systems are systematically investigated by Raman spectroscopy. It is shown that a small number of [S3Ge–GeS3] structural units (SUs) and -S-S-/S8 groups exist simultaneously in GeS2 glass which has a three-dimensional continuous network backbone consisting of cross-linked corner-sharing and edge-sharing [GeS4] tetrahedra. When Sb2S3 is added into GeS2 glass, the network backbone becomes interconnected [GeS4] tetrahedra and [SbS3] pyramids. Moreover, Ge atoms in [S3Ge–GeS3] SUs tend to capture S atoms from Sb2S3, leading to the formation of [S2Sb–SbS2] SUs. When CdS is added into GeS2 glass, [Cd4GeS6] polyhedra are formed, resulting in a strong crystallization tendency. In addition, Ge atoms in [S3Ge–GeS3] SUs tend to capture S atoms from CdS, resulting in the dissolution of Ge–Ge bond. Co-melting of Sb2S3 or CdS with GeS2 reduces the viscosity of the melt and improves the homogeneity of the glass. The GeS2 glass can only dissolve up to 10-mol% CdS without crystallization. In comparison, GeS2–Sb2S3 glasses can dissolve up to 20-mol% CdS, implying that Sb2S3 could delay the construction of [Cd4GeS6] polyhedron and increase the dissolving amount of CdS in the glass.
Chalcogenide glasses, which are amorphous materials based on the chalcogen elements S, Se, and Te alloyed with group III–V elements such as Ga, Ge, As, and Sb, have received considerable attention for several decades. They have many important optical applications in the infrared (IR) such as lenses,[1,2] transmitting fibers,[3,4] sensors,[5–7] imaging bundles,[8,9] lasers & amplifiers,[10–12] nonlinear waveguides,[13–16] and diffraction gratings,[17] stemming principally from their unique properties of excellent IR transparency, low phonon energy, high linear and nonlinear refractive index, and large photosensitivity. A more attracting characteristic of chalcogenide glass is good solubility for metal sulfide or halide, which makes it convenient to adjust its physical properties for different uses.[18–20] For example, GeS2–Sb2S3–CdS chalcogenide system has a large glass-forming region which is mainly situated along the GeS2–Sb2S3 binary side, and the content of CdS in the glass could be as high as 30 mol%.[18] Depending on the composition, the glass has a glass transition temperature of 293 °C–310 °C, a linear refractive index of 1.95–2.43 (nD), a density of 2.99 g · cm−3–3.29 g · cm−3 and a micro-hardness of 158.9 kg · mm−2–250.9 kg · mm−2.[18] Besides, the glass has ultrafast (~ 100 fs) and high third-order optical nonlinearity (χ(3) ≈ 8.3 × 10−13 esu),[21] and large electrical/thermal poling induced second-order nonlinear susceptibility (χ(2) ≈ 9 pm/V).[22]
It is known that macroscopic physical properties and microscopic connectivity of the glass network have a close relationship.[23,24] In order to tune the properties of chalcogenide glass in a relatively large range, the chalcogenide system is expect to be capable of dissolving a high concentration of modifiers (e.g., metal sulfides, halides, etc.). Hence, it is necessary to understand the flexibility of the chalcogenide glass structure and the contributions of constituent elements (or compounds). In this work, the network structures of pseudo-binary GeS2–Sb2S3, GeS2–CdS, Sb2S3–CdS, and pseudo-ternary GeS2–Sb2S3–CdS chalcogenide systems are studied systematically by Raman spectroscopy. Their characteristic Raman bands are compared and analyzed. We aim to elucidate the contributions of the glass formers and modifiers to the network structure, and therefore provide guidance for tuning glass compositions for different uses.
The glass-forming region of GeS2–Sb2S3–CdS pseudo-ternary system[18] and the compositions investigated in the present work are shown in Fig.
The Raman spectra were measured at room temperature by a Raman Spectrometer (Renishaw RM-1000) in back (180°) scattering mode. An He–Ne laser (632.8 nm) was used as the excitation. To avoid laser damage to the sample and local crystallization of the glass, the laser power was properly under an approximate level of about 2 mW. The resolution of the Raman spectra was 1 cm−1. Powder x-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns were recorded using a Rigaku D/max-RB diffractometer with Cu-Kα radiation. The operating voltage was 40 kV and the current was 50 mA.
For each of the investigated glasses, no evident vibrational band in a region of 600 cm−1–3000 cm−1 is found in the Raman spectra, and therefore only the data below 600 cm−1 are presented. Besides, the Raman bands below 150 cm−1 are complicated and difficult to accurately identify, hence they will not be discussed in the following text. Previous studies indicated that the Raman spectrum measured directly from the spectrometer could not reflect the pure structural changes and must be corrected to temperature and frequency factors. The corrected spectrum was defined as reduced Raman spectrum.[25,26] The reduced Raman intensity (Ired) is directly proportional to the intrinsic molar scattering factor and it can be obtained from the experimentally measured one (Iexp) by using the following equations:[25,26]
Figure
Previous studies on the structure of vitreous GeS2[42] indicate that in the GeS2 glass, the basic SUs are corner-sharing and edge-sharing [GeS4] tetrahedra which are connected through bridging sulfur atoms to form a three-dimensional network. The bands at 150, 340, 372, 400, and 430 cm−1 are associated with the vibrations of [GeS4] tetrahedra and their assignments are listed in Table
The measured Raman spectrum of GeS2 (see Fig.
Figure
In order to judge whether new phase or SU could be formed in Sb2S3–CdS alloy, we synthesize the sample with 50Sb2S3 · 50CdS composition using the same melt-quenching procedure described above. The sample is opaque, and shows a lead-gray color and metallic luster. Its XRD pattern is shown in Fig.
The Raman spectra of 50Sb2S3 · 50CdS sample and crystalline Sb2S3 are presented in Fig.
Figure
Figure
GeS2 glass has a three-dimensional continuous network structure which consists of cross-linked corner-sharing and edge-sharing [GeS4] tetrahedra. A small number of ethane-like [S3Ge–GeS3] SUs and -S-S-/S8 groups also exist simultaneously in the structure probably due to local composition fluctuations. When Sb2S3 is added into GeS2 glass, [SbS3] pyramids are formed. In addition, Ge atoms in [S3Ge–GeS3] SUs are likely to capture S atoms from Sb2S3, leading to the formation of [S2Sb–SbS2] SUs. The network backbone of the GeS2–Sb2S3 glass consists of interconnected [GeS4] tetrahedra and [SbS3] pyramids. When CdS is introduced into GeS2 glass, [Cd4GeS6] polyhedra are formed. This glass can dissolve up to 10-mol% CdS without crystallization. Beside, Ge atoms in [S3Ge–GeS3] SUs tend to capture S atoms from CdS, resulting in the dissolution of the SUs. Co-melting of Sb2S3 or CdS with GeS2 can reduce the viscosity of the melt and improves the homogeneity of glass, leading to the disappearance of -S-S-/S8 groups in local structure. When CdS is added into GeS2–Sb2S3 glass, the network structure of the resulting glass does not change significantly. Compared with GeS2 glass, GeS2–Sb2S3 glass can dissolve up to 20-mol% CdS, suggesting that Sb2S3 could delay the construction of [Cd4GeS6] polyhedron.
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