The structureoftheas-preparedandthermalannealedAg10As30S60 chalcogenide glassischaracterized
using theX-raydiffraction(XRD)andscanningelectronmicroscopy(SEM).Differentialscanning
calorimetry (DSC)curvesrecordedatfourdifferentheatingratesareanalyzedtodeterminetheglass
and crystallizationtransitiontemperatures,thermalstabilityandenthalpyrelease.Twoseparated
crystallization peaksareobservedintheDSCcurves.XRDresultsindicatetheprecipitationofAgAsS4
crystal phaseisresponsibleforthe first peak.NumerousphaseswithS8 dominant phaseareaccountable
for thesecondpeak.Thecrystallizationkineticssuchastheactivationenergyforthecrystallization(Ec),
the frequencyfactor(Ko) andthecrystallizationrateconstant K are determinedforeachcrystallization
stage. Theresultsshowthatthecrystallizationrateconstantforthe first crystallizationstageisaboutsix
times largerthanthatofthesecondcrystallizationstep.