Related papers: Microstructure dependence of low-temperature elast…
We have measured the heat conduction between 0.05 K and 1.0 K of high purity silicon wafers carrying on their polished faces a variety of thin dielectric films and polycrystalline thin metallic films. Using a Monte Carlo simulation to…
We have conducted a thorough study of the acoustic properties between 10^-4 and 1 Kelvin for the amorphous metal Zr_x Cu_1-x (x=0.3 and x=0.4), by measuring the relative change of sound velocity dv/v and internal friction Q^-1 as a function…
We discuss the strain dependence of the acoustic properties of amorphous metals in both normal and superconducting states, in the temperature range 0.1 mK $ \le T \le 1 $K. A crossover is found when the strain energy is of the order of the…
While the optical properties of thin metal films are well understood in the visible and near-infrared range, little has been done in the mid- and far-infrared region. Here we investigate ultra-thin gold films prepared on Si(111)(7 x 7) in…
Amorphous silicon films prepared by electron beam evaporation have systematically and substantially greater atomic density for higher thickness, higher growth temperature, and slower deposition rate, reaching the density of crystalline Si…
Polycrystalline diamond films with systematic change in microstructure that varies from microcrystalline to nanocrystalline structure are synthesized on Si by hot filament chemical vapor deposition. The morphology and structural properties…
Internal friction and speed of sound of a-SiO(2) was measured above 6 mK using a torsional oscillator at 90 kHz, controlling for thermal decoupling, non-linear effects, and clamping losses. Strain amplitudes e(A) = 10^{-8} mark the…
Amorphous silicon contains tunneling two-level systems, which are the dominant energy loss mechanisms for amorphous solids at low temperatures. These two-level systems affect both mechanical and electromagnetic oscillators and are believed…
The internal friction of e-beam amorphous silicon was measured in a magnetic field between 0 and 6 T, from 1.5-20 K, and was found to be independent of the field to better than 8%. It is concluded that the low energy excitations observed in…
The low temperature properties of glass are distinct from those of crystals due to the presence of poorly understood low-energy excitations. The tunneling model proposes that these are atoms tunneling between nearby equilibria, forming…
The sound velocity in selected liquid alloys of the isomorphous Bi-Sb system was measured as a function of temperature to a high accuracy of 0.2%. The sound velocity temperature coefficient, dlnc/dT, at the liquidus is found to vary…
Barium zirconate (BaZrO$_3$) is one of the very few perovskites that is claimed to retain an average cubic structure down to \SI{0}{\K}, while being energetically very close to an antiferrodistortive phase obtained by condensation of a soft…
The speed of longitudinal sound waves at 7 and 22 MHz has been measured in liquid, supecooled, and amorphous selenium, including the region around the glass transition temperature, Tg, near 35 C. In amorphous selenium the speed of shear…
We studied the frequency and quality factor of mechanical plasmonic nanoresonators as a function of temperature, ranging from ambient to 4 K. Our investigation focused on individual gold nanorods and nanodisks of various sizes. We observed…
Phonons, quantized vibrations of the atomic lattice, are fundamental to understanding thermal transport, structural stability, and phase behavior in crystalline solids. Despite advances in computational materials science, most predictions…
Here we examine the role of the amorphous insulating substrate in the thermal relaxation in thin NbN, InO$_x$, and Au/Ni films at temperatures above 5 K. The studied samples are made up of metal bridges on an amorphous insulating layer…
Diamond is studied by path integral molecular dynamics simulations of the atomic nuclei in combination with a tight-binding Hamiltonian to describe its electronic structure and total energy. This approach allows us to quantify the influence…
Sound attenuation and internal friction coefficients are calculated for a realistic model of amorphous silicon. It is found that, contrary to previous views, thermal vibrations can induce sound attenuation at ultrasonic and hypersonic…
It is well known that under plastic deformation, dislocations are not only created but also move through the crystal, and their mobility is impeded by their interaction with the crystal structure. At high stress and temperature, this `drag'…
Amorphous solids manifest puzzling effects of mysterious degrees of freedom that give rise to a heat capacity and phonon scattering in great excess over what would be expected for a solid that has a unique vibrational ground state. Of…