New Vitreous Semiconductors

Abstract

Coevaporation with vapor quenching has been used to combine metallic and nonmetallic elements into new vitreous semiconductors. These binary glasses, formed with an excess of nonmetal over a wide range of compositions exhibit semiconducting and optical properties differing from the corresponding properties of either component alone or of any known crystalline compound formed between the components. Detailed investigation of the vitreous Bi–Se system indicates that an intermediate temperature region of the equilibrium phase diagram has been retained at room temperature. Variation of bandgap, resistivity, and photo‐sensitivity with composition are presented and interpreted in terms of the equilibrium existing at ∼620°C.