Abstract: A comparison of crystallization behaviours between chalcogenide and chalconitride glasses in Ge-S, Ge-As-Se and Ge-As-Se-Te systems was made in the present paper, Measurements include DTA or DSC curves, XRD spectra and SEM micrographs. The effect of Si₃N₄ doping on repressing the crystallization of chalcogenide glasses is found valid for all three systems which is obviously attributed to the changes in crosslinking degree of glass microstructure due to introduction of nitrogen atoms. For the Ge-S system, two new weak diffraction peaks, both corresponding to Ge₃N₄ crystal phase, were observed in the XRD spectrum of the chalconitride glass. This is of special significance in disclosing the network structure of the chalconitride glasses and further demonstrates the incorporation of nitrigen into the base glass network by substituting some chalcogen to form the new mixed nitrogen and chalcogen based structural units．

Key words: chalconitride glass, crystallization, crystallization behaviour