Figure : (a) LA attenuation (of the energy) as a function of frequency at 15K (▲) and 300K (■). All other symbols are data from the literature, namely BLS results using visible (□) [53] and ultra-violet (△▽) [54, 55], (∗) [56] incident wavelengths (UV data from Ref. 57 are excluded as unexplained [56]). The symbols (•) [58] and (□) [34] are previous data from picosecond acoustics. The lines are explained in the text.
© Peng-Jui Wang et al., 2025 American Physical Society
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Marie Foret
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Do THz acoustic waves propagate in glass?

Scientific news

Many theories predict that the attenuation of acoustic waves in glasses increases very strongly at high frequencies, due to a vibrational anomaly known as the “boson peak”. Using a new ultrafast acoustic technique, the researchers investigated silica glass over a frequency range that had so far been little explored, at both low and high temperatures. They observed an unexpected wave behavior and a strong frequency-dependent attenuation that dominates the usual thermal effects.

Quartic Scaling of Sound Attenuation with Frequency in Vitreous Silica, Peng-Jui Wang, Agnès Huynh, T.-C. Hung, J.-K. Sheu, Jinn-Kong Sheu, Xavier Lafosse, Aristide Lemaître, Benoit Rufflé René Vacher, Bernard Perrin, Chi-Kuang Sun, Marie Foret, Physical Review Letters, 134, 196101 - Published 12 May, 2025.
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.196101
Open access: arXiv

The present study was carried out in the following CNRS laboratories:

  • Institut des NanoSciences de Paris (INSP, CNRS/Sorbonne Université)
  • Laboratoire Charles Coulomb (L2C, CNRS/Université de Montpellier)
  • Centre de Nanosciences et de Nanotechnologies (C2N, CNRS/Université Paris-Saclay)
     

Contact

Agnès Huynh
Enseignante-chercheuse de Sorbonne Université à l'Institut des NanoSciences de Paris (INSP)
Marie Foret
Enseignant-chercheuse de l'Université de Montpellier au Laboratoire Charles Coulomb (L2C)
Communication CNRS Physique