In the present paper, the effect of low-temperature annealing on the linear optical properties of disordered thin films (~350 nm) synthesized from Ge10Se90 glass by vacuum thermal evaporation on quartz substrates is reported. Based on the experimental transmission spectra of films in the field of optical transparency before and after annealing below and at the glass transition temperature Tg = (3612) K (313 and 363 K, respectively), the main optical characteristics (dispersion dependences of the refractive index and extinction coefficient, optical gap energy, the Tautz parameter B1/2, etc.) were determined using the Swanepoel and Tautz methods. It is revealed that the edge of optical absorption in the annealed films is caused by indirect optical transitions. Using the Wemple-DiDomenico single oscillator model, the Urbach energy EU, the energy of one oscillator E0, the scattering energy Ed, the linear susceptibility and the static refractive index n0 were calculated. At the same time, a higher value of the Ed/E0 ratio of the film annealed at Tg indicates its greater nonlinear susceptibility. The X-ray diffraction studies have confirmed the amorphous nature of the initial films and the appearance of Se nanocrystallites in them after annealing of a certain polymorphic modification depending on the temperature and time of annealing. It was found that annealing both below Tg and at Tg initiates red shift in the optical absorption edge, an increase in EU and , and a decrease in the thickness of the film and the parameter B1/2. It is shown that the annealing of identical films is accompanied by a change in their phase composition with the appearance of either monoclinic beta-Se8 nanocrystallites or the mixture of beta-Se8 and trigonal t-Se. From the standpoint of the concept of the polymerpolymorphoid structure of glass and a glass-forming liquid, it is due to the mutual transformation of polymorphoids of various polymorphic modifications because of a change in their concentration ratio depending on the annealing temperature relative to Tg. The resulting films can be used in optoelectronics as nonlinear optical elements or media for radiation limiters.
