The local bonding structure in the Ge–As–Se ternary glassy system has been investigated by
75As nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) at 77 K. For the compositions with average coordination number
the NQR measurements yield no evidence for the presence of As–As homopolar bonds. For the composition Ge
2As
2Se
5 (
) the NQR lineshape exhibits two peaks corresponding to arsenic sites with zero (or three) and two As–As bonds. High Ge and As content
leads to formation of microclusters, where the predominant structural units are, possibly, As
4Se
4 molecules or partial molecules with As–As bonds. The NQR spectrum for the composition Ge
0.33As
0.12Se
0.55 (
) shows a weak peak corresponding to an arsenic site with zero (or three) homobonds and two resolved peaks in the high frequency region. Such behavior is consistent with an increase in inhomogenity in the local structure and perhaps nanoscale phase separation.