Characterisation of semiconducting V2O5–Bi2O3–TeO2 glasses through ultrasonic measurements

Tellurite containing vanadate (50−x)V2O5–xBi2O3–50TeO2 glasses with different bismuth (x=0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 wt%) contents have been prepared by rapid quenching method. Ultrasonic velocities (both longitudinal and shear) and attenuation (for longitudinal waves only) measurements have been made using a transducer operated at the fundamental frequency of 5 MHz in the temperature range from 150 to 480 K. The elastic moduli, Debye temperature, and Poisson’s ratio have been obtained both as a function of temperature and Bi2O3 content. The room temperature study on ultrasonic velocities, attenuation, elastic moduli, Poisson’s ratio, Debye temperature and glass transition temperature show the absence of any anomalies with addition of Bi2O3 content. The observed results confirm that the addition of Bi2O3 modifier changes the rigid formula character of TeO2 to a matrix of regular TeO3 and ionic behaviour bonds (NBOs). A monotonic decrease in velocities and elastic moduli, and an increase in attenuation and acoustic loss as a function of temperature in all the glass samples reveal the loose packing structure, which is attributed to the instability of TeO4 trigonal bipyramid units in the network as temperature increases. It is also inferred that the glasses with low Bi2O3 content are more stable than with high Bi2O3 content.