Enhanced surface mobility is critical in producing stable glasses during physical vapor deposition. In amorphous selenium (a-Se) both the structure and dynamics of the surface can be altered when exposed to above-bandgap light. Here we investigate the effect of light on the properties of vapor-deposited a-Se glasses at a range of substrate temperatures and deposition rates. We demonstrate that deposition both under white light illumination and in the dark results in thermally and kinetically stable glasses. Compared to glasses deposited in the dark, stable a-Se glasses formed under white light have reduced thermal stability, as measured by lower density change, but show significantly improved kinetic stability, measured as higher onset temperature for transformation. While light induces enhanced mobility that penetrates deep into the surface, resulting in lower density during vapor deposition, it also acts to form more networked structures at the surface, which results in a state that is kinetically more stable with larger optical birefringence. We demonstrate that the structure formed during deposition with light is a state that is not accessible through liquid quenching, aging, or vapor deposition in the dark, indicating the formation of a unique amorphous solid state.

提高表面迁移率对于在物理气相沉积过程中生产稳定的玻璃至关重要。在非晶硒（a-Se）中，当暴露于带隙以上的光时，表面的结构和动力学都可以改变。在这里，我们研究了在衬底温度和沉积速率范围内光对气相沉积a-Se玻璃的性能的影响。我们证明了在白光照明下和在黑暗中的沉积都会产生热和动力学稳定的玻璃。与在黑暗中沉积的玻璃相比，在白光下形成的稳定的a-Se玻璃具有较低的密度变化，降低了热稳定性，但在较高的转变起始温度下显示出了显着改善的动力学稳定性。当光诱导增强的活动性渗透到表面深处时，由于在气相沉积过程中密度较低，因此它还可以在表面形成更多的网状结构，从而在光学双折射较大的情况下在动力学上更稳定。我们证明了在光沉积过程中形成的结构是通过在黑暗中进行液体淬火，老化或气相沉积无法访问的状态，表明形成了独特的非晶态固态。