Thermal stability, glass-forming ability, and fragility nature of phase-change alloys of Se₉₀Pb_10−xSn_x (0 ≤ x ≤ 8) system

Bulk Se₉₀Pb_10−xSn_x (x = 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8) glassy alloys have been obtained by quenching technique, where x indicates the atomic mass percentage (at. mass%) of tin. The differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) technique is used under non-isothermal conditions to determine different characteristic temperatures such as the glass transition temperature T_g, on-set and peak crystallization temperatures T_c and T_p, and melting temperature T_m. The thermal stability parameter of current ternary Se₉₀Pb_10−xSn_x glasses exhibits A nonlinear compositional dependence with a maximum value for x = 8 at. mass% of Sn. The mean values of the crystallization rate (< K_p >) are lowest at x = 2 and 8, suggesting that a long time is required for these two compositions to fully crystallize. As a result, their stability against devitrification is at its highest, whereas the composition containing 6 at. mass% of Sn has the highest rate of crystallization and the lowest stability against devitrification.