The dependence of the boson peak on the thickness of Cu50Zr50 film metallic glasses

Abstract

In this study, intensive calculations were performed to investigate the behavior of the low-temperature excess heat capacity of Cu₅₀Zr₅₀ ultrathin film metallic glasses. Our results show that there is a well-defined boson peak in the film metallic glasses and that the boson peak height exhibits an obvious size-dependent feature. Furthermore, there is a critical thickness d_c in the curves between the boson peak height and the thickness, where the boson peak height changes abruptly. Through structural analysis, we found that the low-temperature excess heat capacity of the film metallic glasses is correlated with the density layering structure near the surface. The structural parameter S is defined by atomic density and it was found that the boson peak height is highly correlated with S. Our investigation of ultrathin film metallic glasses provides a deeper understanding about the structural origin of the boson peak in metallic glasses.