Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 25, 2026

Methods of Ex Situ and In Situ Investigations of Structural Transformations: The Case of Crystallization of Metallic Glasses
Published on: June 7, 2018
Memory effects in amorphous solids below 20 mK
D Rosenberg1, P Nalbach, D D Osheroff
1Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
Abstract:
At temperatures below 1 K, the capacitance of a glass sample changes due to the application of a dc field in accordance with Burin's dipole gap theory [J. Low Temp. Phys. 100, 309 (1995)]]. However, we now report that below 20 mK, during the first sweep cycle of the dc electric field, the capacitance is smaller by about 10(-5) compared to any subsequent sweep. Despite this overall shift, the field dependence follows the dipole gap predictions. In a subsequent sweep to higher dc fields the dielectric constant drops by about 10(-5) as soon as the applied field is higher than any field previously applied. A picture involving the dynamics of resonant pairs provides a qualitative description of this behavior.
Related Concept Videos
Polymer Classification: Crystallinity
Crystalline domains are the regions where polymer chains are aligned in an orderly manner and held together in proximity by intermolecular forces. For example, chains in the crystalline domains of polyethylene and nylon are bound together by van der Waals...
Molecular and Ionic Solids
Molecular Solids
Molecular crystalline solids, such as ice, sucrose (table sugar), and iodine, are solids that are composed of neutral molecules as their constituent units. These molecules are held together by weak intermolecular forces such as London dispersion forces, dipole-dipole interactions, or hydrogen bonds, which...
Structures of Solids
Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing
Imperfections in Crystal Structure: Stoichiometric Point Defects
Lattice Energies of Ionic Crystals

