Synthesis of New Chalcogenides from the System GeTe6-Cu and a Layered Structure Based on Them and an Azo Polymer for Application in the Optoelectronic

New bulk chalcogenides from the system (GeTe6)1-xCux, where x=5, 10, 15 и 20 mol %, has been synthesized. The structure and composition of the materials was studied using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has been applied to analyze the surface morphology of the samples. Some thermal characteristics as glass transition, crystallization and melting temperature and some physicochemical properties as density, compactness, molar and free volume were also determined. The XRD pattern shows sharp diffraction peaks indicating that the synthesized new bulk materials are crystalline. The following four crystal phases were determined: Te, Cu, CuTe и Cu2GeTe3. The results from the EDS confirm the presence of Ge, Te and Cu in the bulk samples in a concentration in good correspondence with those theoretically determined. A layered thin film material based on the synthesized new Ge14Te81Cu5 chalcogenide, which has the most flexible structure, and the azo polymer PAZO has been fabricated, and the kinetic of the photoinduced birefringence at 444 nm has been measured. The results indicate an increase in the maximal induced birefringence for the layered structure in comparison to the non-doped azo polymer film.