Transformation of the vibrational spectrum and structure of glasses after quenching

Abstract

Raman scattering and neutron diffraction and inelastic scattering spectra of well annealed and quenched As 2S 3 glasses are analyzed. It is found out that the quenching of the sample leads to negligible variation of structure on a short range scale, but significantly influence structural order on a medium range scale. These structure modifications lead to significant changes in the low-energy (2–12 meV) vibrational spectrum: the density of vibrational states and light to vibration coupling constant increase uniformly along the spectrum. The results obtained confirm the connection of low-energy anomalies of the vibrational spectrum of amorphous materials with the peculiarities of their structure on the medium range scale.