Ag2Se-Tl2Se-Bi2Se3 quasi-ternary system

The Ag₂Se-Tl₂Se-Bi₂Se₃ quasi-ternary system (system A) was studied using DTA, X-ray powder diffraction, microstructure examination, and microhardness measurements. TlBiSe₂-AgBiSe₂, AgTlSe-AgBiSe₂, AgTlSe-Bi₂Se₃, and Tl₂Se-AgBiSe₂ polytherms, isothermal sections at 500 and 800 K, and liquidus surface projection of system A were constructed. System A is congruently triangulated into the following subordinate triangles: Tl₂Se-AgTlSe-Tl₉BiSe₆ (I), AgTlSe-Tl₉BiSe₆-TlBiSe₂ (II), Ag₂Se-AgTlSe-TlBiSe₂ (III), Ag₂Se-AgBiSe₂-TlBiSe₂ (IV), and AgBiSe₂-TlBiSe₂-Bi₂Se₃ (V). Subsystems I, III, and V are ternary systems with three-phase eutectic equilibrium; system II has a three-phase eutectic, and system IV is characterized by several invariant and monovariant peritectic and eutectic equilibria. Primary crystallization and homogeneity fields were outlined, and the types and coordinates of invariant and monovariant equilibria in system A were determined. A characteristic feature of the title system is an extensive field of solid solutions between high-temperature cubic AgBiSe₂ and TlBiSe₂ phases; this field lies as a continuous belt along the AgBiSe₂-TlBiSe₂ quasibinary section and covers about one-fourth of the surface area of the triangular diagram of system A.