Rationale
The structure of AgAsS2 glass, which has a broad range of applications, is still not well understood and a systematic mass spectrometric analysis of AgAsS2 glass is currently not available. Elucidation of the structure should help in the development of this material.
Methods
The AgAsS2 glass was prepared by the melt‐quenched technique. Laser desorption ionisation (LDI) using quadrupole ion trap time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (QIT‐TOFMS) was used to follow the generation of AgmAsnSx clusters. The stoichiometry of the clusters generated was determined via collision‐induced dissociation (CID) and modelling of isotopic patterns. The AgAsS2 glass was characterised by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X‐ray (EDX) spectroscopy.
Results
The LDI of AgAsS2 glass leads to the formation of unary (Ag+/− and As3+) species, 38 binary (AsnSx, AgmSx), and 98 ternary (AgmAsnSx) singly charged clusters. The formation of silver‐rich nano‐grains during AgAsS2 glass synthesis has been identified using TEM analysis and also verified by QIT‐TOFMS.
Conclusions
TOFMS was shown to be a useful technique to study the generation of AgmAsnSx clusters. SEM, TEM and EDX analysis proved that the structure of AgAsS2 glass is ‘grain‐like’ where grains are either: (1) Silver‐rich ‘islands’ (Agm, m up to 39) connected by arsenic and/or sulfur or arsenic sulfide chains or (2) silver sulfide (Ag2S)m (m = 9–20) clusters also similarly inter‐connected. This obtained structural information may be useful for the development of ultra‐high‐density phase‐change storage and memory devices using this kind of glass as a base. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.