Preparation of chalcogenide glass-ceramic materials by ultrasonic treatment of glasses

Chalcogenide glasses of the Se-S system (0–10 at % S) crystallized under the influence of a cavitating ultrasonic field at temperatures of 65 and 73°C. The process was evaluated with respect to spectra of optical transmission in the interval of 400–5000 cm−1. Layer-by-layer removal of the surface of a sample with subsequent evaluation of its transparence was performed for assessment of the heterogeneity of crystallization. It is shown that the crystallization sharply intensifies under the simultaneous impact of temperature and a variable field of elastic stresses, in comparison with the crystallization under their separate action. Optical effects exhibit nonlinearity by glass composition and an anisotropy concerning the position of a US source. A complicated hierarchical pattern of the nucleation stage is shown by electron microscopy. The results are construed in the context of the synergetic approach, and hypervalent bonds based on S.A. Dembovskii are viewed as a microscopic base of self-organization.