On the chlorine role in the structure of GLSC glasses

Lately the structural role played by chlorine in GLSC glasses has arisen a great deal of interest. It has been recently proposed, by means of XAS experiments, that the hypothesis involving a significant Cl to S substitution has to be discarded. In this work we perform a geometrical study on Ga(SCH₃)₄ and Ga(SCH₃)₃Cl, and their possible dimers, trying in this manner to obtain some insight regarding the gallium-network present in the GLSC glasses. Our results suggest that the XAS results may not be as conclusive as it was initially thought, and that those experimental studies should be complemented by other techniques. In particular, vibrational spectroscopy is proposed for that purpose.