Suppression of $\ensuremath{\beta}$ Relaxation in Vapor-Deposited Ultrastable Glasses

Suppression of $β$ Relaxation in Vapor-Deposited Ultrastable Glasses

H. B. Yu, M. Tylinski, A. Guiseppi-Elie, M. D. Ediger, and R. Richert

Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 185501 – Published 26 October 2015

Abstract

Glassy materials display numerous important properties which relate to the presence and intensity of the secondary ( $β$ ) relaxations that dominate the dynamics below the glass transition temperature. However, experimental protocols such as annealing allow little control over the $β$ relaxation for most glasses. Here we report on the $β$ relaxation of toluene in highly stable glasses prepared by physical vapor deposition. At conditions that generate the highest kinetic stability, about 70% of the $β$ relaxation intensity is suppressed, indicating the proximity of this state to the long-sought “ideal glass.” While preparing such a state via deposition takes less than an hour, it would require $\sim 3500$ years of annealing an ordinary glass to obtain similarly suppressed dynamics.

Received 15 July 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.185501

Authors & Affiliations

H. B. Yu^1,*, M. Tylinski², A. Guiseppi-Elie³, M. D. Ediger², and R. Richert^1,†

¹Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, USA
²Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA
³Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Dwight Look College of Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA