A Phenomenological Description of the PALS Response in Glass - Forming Systems

Abstract

A phenomenological description of the ortho-positronium (o-Ps) response from positron annihilation spectroscopy (PALS) and the dynamics from viscosity studies on two typical glass-forming compounds within the framework of the two-order parameter (TOP) model is presented. The dynamical data are accounted for by the modified Vogel – Fulcher – Tamman - Hesse (M-VFTH) equation. Subsequently, the quasi-sigmoidal course of the o-Ps lifetime, τ3, with or without the high-temperature plateau region as a function of the temperature over a wide temperature range can be described by an effective free volume version of the TOP model. This simultaneous description suggests a close relationship between the PALS response and the dynamics of supercooled liquids and seems to support the liquid - like and solid - like domain physical picture of all the three physical states of the disordered phase of the condensed systems.