Specific-heat anomaly of amorphous solids at intermediate temperatures (1 to 30 K)

Physikalisches Institut der Universität Karlsruhe - D-76128 Karlsruhe, Germany

Received: 13 November 1995
Accepted: 24 January 1996

Abstract

An analysis of the specific heat C of various amorphous solids at intermediate temperatures (1 K  K) shows that the two parameters characterizing the maximum in vs. T , namely its height P_c and position T_max, are related to each other as . Surprisingly, this relation is valid not only for all the amorphous solids whose intermediate-T specific heat can be found in the literature, but also for many of the corresponding crystalline solids. This suggests a general correlation between the mechanisms leading to the maximum in amorphous and crystalline solids. The established relation, together with the scaling property found earlier, contributes towards a unified understanding of the low- and intermediate-T properties of amorphous solids.