Low‐Temperature Heat Capacity and Structure of Alkali Silicate Glasses

The heat capacities of several alkali silicate glasses were measured at 77 to 300 K. The experimental results of these glasses were analyzed using the three‐band theory. The characteristic temperatures (θ 1 , θ 3 , and θ E ) obtained were used to determine the nature of atomic interactions in glasses. The variation in the characteristic temperatures depended on the type and amount of cations, which agreed with the infrared spectra for single‐ or mixed‐alkali silicate glasses.