Effect of the Boson Peak and the Ionic Resonance in the Dielectric Properties of Silicate Materials at mm-Wave and THz Frequencies

In this paper, a broadband measurement of the dielectric properties of silicates has been done to cover the seldom characterized mm-wave spectrum and the low THz spectrum. The dielectric properties, i.e. loss and permittivity, show a frequency independent response up to approximately 40 GHz and the loss monotonically increases to the THz frequency range. Two resonance peaks appear at THz frequencies: the first is the boson peak, and the second one corresponds to the ionic resonance of the network former, which in this case is silicon. Even though the materials belong to different groups in the silicate family (crystalline and non-crystalline, with different levels of purity), they seem to have the same overall tendency in the dielectric properties. Argand plots are used for the first time at THz frequencies to provide physical insight into the boson peak and ionic resonance. The complex plane analysis reveals details on the polarization mechanisms underlying silicate network vibrations through direct visualization of their characteristic signatures, and simplifies the process of modeling the dielectric response, leading to a better fit.