High-frequency excitations in glassy crystals

We present broadband dielectric loss spectra of the orientationally disordered ('plastic') crystal ortho-carborane, extending well into the infrared region and compare the results to the low-molecular weight glass former glycerol. Focusing on the high-frequency dynamics beyond 1 GHz, we find a loss minimum showing evidence for excess intensity, quite similar to the findings in canonical glass formers. In the THz region a strongly asymmetric peak shows up, which exhibits marked differences to the corresponding peaks found in glycerol and other glass-forming liquids. We discuss the relation of this feature to the boson peak detected, e.g., in light and neutron scattering experiments. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.