Similarities in the Cp/T3 peaks in amorphous and crystalline metals

Phys Rev Lett. 2006 May 19;96(19):195902. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.195902. Epub 2006 May 17.

Abstract

A low-temperature peak in C(p)/T(3) vs is ubiquitous to glasses. It arises from an abundance of low-frequency vibrations, the origin of which remains unclear. A comparable C(p)/T(3) vs peak is observed in crystals due to the dispersion of acoustic phonons and/or the excitation of optical phonons. We compared the C(p)/T(3) vs peaks in metallic and oxide glasses to elemental crystals by analyzing specific heat, phonon density of states, and elastic constant data. We observe no clear distinction in the peak temperature or amplitude between metallic glasses and crystals. Surprisingly, the peak is larger in single crystal Pd(40)Cu(40)P(20) than in glassy Pd(40)Cu(40)P(20).