The activation energy temperature dependence for viscous flow of chalcogenides

For some chalcogenide glasses, the temperature dependence of the activation energy E(T) of viscous flow in the glass transition region was calculated using the Williams–Landel–Ferry (WLF) equation. A method for determining the activation energy of viscous flow as a function of temperature is proposed using the Taylor expansion of the function E(T) using the example of chalcogenide glasses As-Se, Ge-Se, Sb-Ge-Se, P-Se, and AsSe-TlSe. The calculation results showed that the temperature dependence of the activation energy for the Ge-Se, As-Se, P-Se, AsSe-TlSe, and AsSe systems is satisfactorily described by a polynomial of the second degree, and for Sb-Ge-Se glass by a polynomial of the third degree. The purpose of this work is to compare the values of the coefficients obtained from the Taylor series expansion of E(T) with the characteristics of the E(T) versus (T − Tg) curves obtained directly from the experimental temperature dependence of viscosity. The nature of the dependence E(T) is briefly discussed.