The negligible effect of strain on the low-temperature heat capacity of silica glass

Abstract

In an attempt to affect the anomalous low-temperature heat capacity of glass, an unstrained sample of silica glass was heated to 1150°C and quenched in oil which induced a large internal strain. The heat capacities before and after straining the sample are identical in the temperature range 0.4-1.4 K. In addition, a composite of available data shows that the representation $C=aT+b{T}^3$ is only valid between 0.4 and 1.7 K whereas below 0.3 K, $C\propto T^{1.22}$ and between 3 and 10 K, $C\propto T^{3.8}$.