Non-Debye excess heat capacity and boson peak of binary lithium borate glasses

The non-Debye excess heat capacities of binary lithium borate glasses with different Li(2)O compositions of x=8, 14 and 22 (mol%) are investigated to understand origin of the boson peak. The low-temperature heat capacities are measured between 2 and 50 K by a relaxation calorimeter. The experimental non-Debye heat capacities with x=14 is successfully reproduced using the excess vibrational density of states measured by inelastic neutron scattering. This finding indicates that the non-Debye heat capacities of lithium borate glasses originate from the excess vibrational density of states measureable by inelastic neutron scattering. Moreover, it is demonstrated that all of the excess heat capacity spectra lie on a single master curve by the scaling using boson peak temperature and intensity. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.