Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
We have performed a study on low frequency modes in several alkali silicate glasses by Raman spectroscopy. The Boson peak region is analyzed with a single parameter ω0 which is believed to characerize the density of states of the system. Analysis of the dependence of ω0 on the nature and concentration of the alkali suggests that the position of the Boson peak is essentially governed by the ratio “force constant” over “mass” of localized oscillator modes. At lower frequency (below 30 cm−1), the “excess” intensity can be explained by considering secondorder processes of the same vibrational modes, superimposed on other (possibly relaxational) modes.