Glass-like, low-energy excitations in neutron-irradiated quartz
- Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States). Dept. of Physics
The specific heat and thermal conductivity of neutron-irradiated crystalline quartz have been measured for temperatures ≈ 0.1 to 5 K. Four types of low-energy excitations are observed in the irradiated samples, two of which can be removed selectively by heat treatment. One set of remaining excitations gives rise to low-temperature thermal behavior characteristic of glassy (amorphous) solids. The density of these glass-like excitations can be 50% the density observed in vitreous silica, yet the sample still retains long-range atomic order. In a less-irradiated sample, glass-like excitations may be present with a density only ≈ 2.5% that observed in vitreous silica and possess a similar broad energy spectrum over 0.1 to 1 K.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Research (ER)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-76ER01198
- OSTI ID:
- 6970805
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/ER/01198--1326
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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