Temperature modulated differential scanning calorimetry measurements on Agy(GexSe1−x) 1−y glasses provide evidence for bimodal glass transition temperatures in Se-rich glasses (x < 1/3). At x = 0.20 and 0.25, thermal measurements performed as a function of Ag content in the 0 ≤ y ≤ 0.25 range reveal that the additive (Ag) segregates into an Ag2Se-rich glass phase, possessing a characteristic glass transition temperature Tga = 230° C, while the remaining base glass displays a second glass transition temperature Tgb that systematically increases as its Se content is depleted. The present thermal results are in harmony with Raman scattering, neutron diffraction, dielectric spectroscopy and optical microscopy measurements and suggest that Se-rich glasses in the Ag–Ge–Se ternary system intrinsically phase separate on a macroscopic scale.

The described methodologies will allow the calculation and optimization of WSS profiles in animal models. This information could then be translated to the clinical setting where it would have a positive impact on improving the early maturation rates of AVFs as well as reducing the late venous stenoses.