2002/12/31 by P. Nalbach, Nalbach, P.
Chemistry · Materials Science · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Amorphous solid #Chemistry #Condensed matter physics #Constant (computer programming) #Crystallography #Dielectric #Disordered Systems and Neural Networks (cond-mat.dis-nn) #Electric field #FOS: Physical sciences #Field (mathematics) #Glass properties and applications #Material Dynamics and Properties #Materials science #Mathematics #Maxima and minima #Metastability #Optoelectronics #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Quantum optics and atomic interactions #Quantum tunnelling #Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech) #cond-mat.dis-nn #cond-mat.stat-mech
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.cond-mat/0301003
published in arXiv (Cornell University) (Cornell University) · 4 pages, 3 figures
arxiv created 2002/12/31 · openalex publication_date 2002/12/31 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The dielectric constant of amorphous solids at low temperatures is governed by the dynamics of tunneling systems, small groups of atoms which tunnel between quasi equivalent potential minima. Recent experiments showed that at temperatures below 20 mK various glasses exhibit memory for a previously applied electric bias field. A first sweep of an electric bias field may prepare resonant pairs of tunneling systems, which are temporarily formed during the sweep, in metastable states. In subsequent sweeps the same resonant pairs thus significantly contribute to the dielectric constant, leading to a higher dielectric constant. We investigate the dynamics of resonant pairs during a bias field sweep yielding a qualitative explanation of the memory effect.