[5] This stacking of long branches of As2Te3 molecules gives arsenic(III) telluride an amorphous crystalline[clarification needed] structure that can be found in the ɑ-As2Te3 and β-As2Te3 configurations at different pressures.

[6][clarification needed] As2Te3 is a semiconductor and has been used to study nonlinear optics due to its ability to conduct electrical current; however, at high temperatures when doped with impurities[which?]

[5][clarification needed] As2Te3 is the least studied amorphous chalcogenide compound, which are a group of semiconductors primarily used in nonlinear optics as glasses or lenses to redistribute light.

[8] Arsenic telluride and As2Te3 containing materials are starting to increase in popularity in the field of nonlinear optics because the amorphous glasses As2Te3 is exceptional at redistributing the electrical charge density of the light source (typically a laser) when it interacts within the medium.

Since the electrons are hopping into the conductance gap near the Fermi level, the light is being modified and will exit the lattice in a different form than it entered.