Harmonic behavior of metallic glasses up to the metastable melt

In two amorphous alloys ZrTiCuNiBe and ZrAlNiCu coherent neutron scattering has been measured over five decades in energy, including measurements in the metastable melt of a metallic alloy more than 80 K above ${\mathit{T}}_{\mathit{g}}$. In the vibrational spectra a pronounced ‘‘boson’’ peak is found: Even in crystallized samples the density of states exceeds the Debye ${\mathrm{\omega }}^2$ model, and in the amorphous state low-frequency vibrations are further enhanced. The peak position shows no dispersion in q, while intensities are strongly correlated with the static structure factor. Over the full energy range the temperature dependence is strictly harmonic. From high-energy resolution measurements we establish lower bounds for the temperatures at which structural α and fast β relaxation become observable. © 1996 The American Physical Society.