Lattice vibrations of glasses

Measurements of the thermal conductivity of glasses have led to a model of their lattice vibrations. They are not described as waves, as they are in crystals, but as uncorrelated harmonic motions of individual atoms. The lattice vibrations of fully cerammed, crystalline glass ceramics have been found to be either waves, as in crystals, or vibrations of individual atoms, as in glasses. The understanding of the cause for this different behavior has been aided by studies of systematically doped crystals.