Understanding the emergence of the boson peak in molecular glasses

The boson peak is a fundamental, very unique feature of glassy materials. As such, people have been arguing about the actual origin of the boson peak for many years indeed. In this work, spearheaded by Klaas Wynne (Glasgow University) and featuring molecular simulations by our very own Trent Barnard (amongst a real arsenal of other techniques), we pinpoint the emergence of specific structural features as the motivation behind the occurrence of the boson peak – at least in this class of molecular glasses! Understanding the boson peak in general terms is still very much an ongoing quest, but with this work, now published in Nature Communications (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-35878-6) we have provided an important piece of the puzzle. Check it out here.