Amorphous Chalcogenide Semiconductors and Related Materials

'Amorphous Chalcogenide Semiconductors and Glasses' describes developments in the science and technology of this class of materials. This book offers an up-to-date treatment of chalcogenide glasses and amorphous semiconductors from basic principles to applications while providing the reader with the necessary theoretical background to understanding the material properties technology of this class of materials. This book offers an up-to-date treatment of chalcogenide glasses and amorphous semiconductors from basic principles to applications while providing the reader with the necessary theoretical background to understanding the material properties. Chalcogenides form a special class of materials, which have one or more of the elements from the chalcogen group, Group VI in the Periodic Table (S, Se. or Te) as a constituent; the chalcogen is mixed with other elements to form various 'new' compounds and alloys. Chalcogenides are noncrystalline solids because their structure is 'amorphous' or 'glassy'. Such structures have totally different properties than crystalline solids. Chalcogenide glasses have a number of very interesting and useful properties, which have been already exploited in the commercialization of new devices.