Glasslike two-level systems in minimally disordered mixed crystals

Phys Rev Lett. 2006 Jun 16;96(23):235503. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.235503. Epub 2006 Jun 16.

Abstract

THz spectroscopy is used to identify a broad distribution of two-level systems, characteristic of glasses, in the substitutional monatomic mixed crystal systems, Ba(1-x)Ca(x)F(2) and Pb(1-x)Ca(x)F(2). In these minimally disordered systems, two-level behavior, which was not previously known to occur, begins at a specific CaF(2) concentration. The concentration dependence, successfully modeled using the statistics of the impurity distribution in the lattice, points to a collective dopant tunneling mechanism.