Diffusons, Locons, Propagons: Character of Atomic Vibrations in Amorphous Si

Abstract

Numerical studies of amorphous silicon show that the lowest 4% of vibrational modes are plane-wave like ("propagons") and the highest 3% of modes are localized ("locons"). The rest are neither plane-wave like nor localized. We call them "diffusons." Since diffusons are by far the most numerous, we try to characterize them by calculating such properties as wavevector and polarization (which seem not to be useful), "phase quotient" (a measure of the change of vibrational phase on between first neighbor atoms), spatial polarization memory, and diffusivity. Localized states are characterized by finding decay lengths, inverse participation ratios, and coordination numbers of the atoms participating.