Experimental Study and 3D Modeling of the Phase Diagram of the Ag–Sn–Se System

Abstract

In connection with the contradictoriness of literature data, phase equilibria in the Ag–Sn–Se system were restudied by differential thermal analysis and X-ray powder diffraction analysis. A number of polythermal sections and the isothermal section at room temperature of the phase diagram were constructed, and a projection of the liquidus surface was built. The primary crystallization fields of phases and the types and coordinates of in- and monovariant equilibria were determined. It was demonstrated that, in the system, two ternary compounds, Ag₈SnSe₆ and Ag_xSn_{2 – x}Se₂ (0.84 < x < 1.06), form. The former melts congruently at 1015 K and undergoes a polymorphic transformation at 355 K, and the latter melts with decomposition by a peritectic reaction at 860 K. The formation of the compound Ag₂SnSe₃, which was previously reported in the literature, was not confirmed. Based on the phase diagrams of boundary binary systems and the results of the differential thermal analysis of a limited number of samples of the ternary system, equations were obtained for calculation and 3D modeling of the liquidus and phase-separation surfaces.