Magnetic and electrical properties of bulk Se85-xSnxTe15 chalcogenide glass

Abstract Bulk Se 85-x Sn x Te 15 chalcogenide glasses were prepared by the conventional melt quenching technique. XRD analysis revealed that the alloy’s crystal structure is amorphous when the Sn concentration is ≤ 3.84 at % but becomes polycrystalline at higher concentrations. The magnetic and electrical properties of the prepared alloys and the Seebeck coefficient (S) were measured at temperatures ranging from 80 to 300 K. The amorphous samples exhibited high electrical resistance, which hindered property measurements. In contrast, the polycrystalline samples showed semiconducting behaviors with and without a magnetic field. The calculated activation energies for electrical conductivity (E ρ ) and thermoelectric power (E S ) were dependent on composition. The S vs. T data indicates a positive S signal for the lowest Sn level, while negative signals appear at Sn levels of 8.50 and 10.20 at. %. Magnetic susceptibility measurements indicate that at a certain temperature (T N ), all samples undergo a phase transition from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic. Subsequently, a transition from ferromagnetic to paramagnetic occurs at (T C ).