Compressibility, Electrical Conductivity, and Crystallization of Glassy Selenium at a High Pressure

Abstract

The volume and the electrical resistivity of glassy selenium (g-Se) are precisely measured at a high hydrostatic pressure up to 9 GPa. The bulk modulus at normal pressure (B = 9.05 ± 0.15 GPa) and its baric derivative (\(B_{P}^{'}\) = 6.4 ± 0.2) fall on the general concentration dependence of the properties of Se–Ge glasses. The bulk modulus is found to behave substantially nonlinearly in the pressure range P < 3 GPa, and this behavior is not related to glass density relaxation (which is absent in this pressure range). The electrical resistivity of g-Se decreases almost exponentially with increasing pressure and reaches 20 Ω cm at 8.75 GPa. The inelastic behavior and weak volume relaxation in g-Se begin at a pressure above 3.5 GPa. Both the volume and the logarithm of electrical resistivity exhibit noticeable (logarithmic in time) relaxation at above 8 GPa. The detected volume hysteresis (1%) and significant (two orders of magnitude) electrical resistivity hysteresis are associated with the pressure-induced structural changes in the glass. They cannot be explained by partial glass crystallization, since no crystalline phase impurity was detected right after experiments. A noticeable (about 1.5%) crystalline phase impurity appears in a sample only after long-term (1 day) storage at a pressure above 8 GPa. Moreover, the crystallization kinetics of g-Se is studied under normal conditions after the action of a high pressure.