Hyper-Raman spectroscopy is used to investigate low frequency vibrations of various silica glasses. A strong boson peak is observed. The corresponding modes are inactive in infrared and Raman spectra, and are nonacoustic in nature. The shape of this boson peak essentially matches the total density of vibrational states (DOS), with a constant coupling coefficient C. This and other indications suggest that these modes actually dominate the DOS of silica.

The frequencies of the softest polar optic phonons of tetragonal SrTiO3 are accurately determined using high-resolution hyper-Raman spectroscopy on oriented-domain crystals. The splitting of the polar soft mode in the tetragonal phase is quantitatively related to the 105 K structural transition, i.e., to the rotation of the oxygen octahedra and to the associated macroscopic strains. In addition to quantum fluctuations, these tetragonal distortions are found to be essential in preventing the ferroelectric transition.

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