Laser Desorption Ionisation Time‐of‐Flight Mass Spectrometry of Chalcogenide Glasses from (GeSe ₂ ) _{100− <i>x</i>} (Sb ₂ Se ₃ ) _<i>x</i> System

Abstract

Laser Desorption Ionization Time‐of‐Flight Mass Spectrometry (LDI TOFMS) was used to characterize chalcogenide glasses from pseudobinary (GeSe 2 ) 100− x (Sb 2 Se 3 ) x system, where x = 5–60, aiming description of their partial structure through the analysis of the plasma formed due to interaction of pulsed laser beam with studied glasses. The plasma contains positively or negatively charged clusters; their stoichiometry was determined as Se c − ( c = 2–3), Sb + , Se 2 + , and Sb 3 + ; binary GeSe c + , SbSe c +/− ( c = 1–2), Sb b Se c + ( b = 2–3, c = 1–4), Ge a Sb 3 + ( a = 1–4), Sb 2 Se c − ( c = 3–4), SbSe 3 − , and Sb 3 Se 5 + ; ternary GeSbSe 2 + , GeSbSe c − ( c = 3–5), GeSb b Se + ( b = 4–5), and Ge 9 Sb 2 Se c + ( c = 5–7) ones. Described method is generally useful not only for partial structural characterization of chalcogenide glasses and corresponding thin films but also for evaluation of their contamination with oxygen and/or hydrogen.