Boson peak in Sm-Al-Co ternary metallic glasses and its possible structural origin

The low temperature specific heat of Sm-Al-Co ternarymetallic glasses is investigated and a clear anomaly associated withthe Boson peak is identified. While this anomaly depends slightly onthe chemical composition, it has no dependence on external magneticfield. To figure out the mechanism of the Boson peak, we interpretthe data within various model frameworks. Unlike earlierwork, our study shows that this Boson peak is mainly ascribed to anadditional T² term of the specific heat, which may originatefrom the quasi-two-dimensional and short-range ordered structureunits possibly existing in the metallic glasses.