Impact of Ag concentration in As-S-Se chalcogenide on physical, topological and resistive switching properties

Physical properties of quaternary chalcogenide Ag-x(As40S30Se30)(100-)(x), glasses were analyzed. Synthesis of the studied samples x = 6 - 9 at.% Ag was performed by melt quenching in cascade regime of heating. X-ray diffraction analysis verified amorphous character of the synthesized samples. Morphological characterization was carried out using a scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray mapping. The obtained results show that the density of the system increases upon silver incorporation in the glassy As40S30Se30 matrix, which is manifested through decrease of free volume percentage. Assessment of various physical and topological properties of prepared series of chalcogenide materials was done using theoretical models available in the literature. Specifically, compactness, average coordination number, constraint parameters, cross-linking density, floppy modes, number of lone-pair electrons are analyzed with addition of Ag atoms in the As40S30Se30 matrix. Average single bond energy and the mean bond energy were also discussed. The chemical bond approach model was used to study the cohesive energy of the studied Ag-containing As-S-Se samples. It is found that all studied parameters are dependent upon silver concentrations. Finally, the room-temperature memristive characteristics and compositional dependence on resistive switching properties in a wide range of Ag concentrations were examined in this paper.