Multiphase magnetism in Yb2Ti2O7

Allen Scheie; Jonas Kindervater; Shu Zhang; Hitesh J Changlani; Gabriele Sala; Georg Ehlers; Andre Heinemann; Gregory S Tucker; Seyed M Koohpayeh; Collin Broholm

doi:10.1073/pnas.2008791117

Multiphase magnetism in Yb₂Ti₂O₇

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Nov 3;117(44):27245-27254. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2008791117. Epub 2020 Oct 23.

Authors

Allen Scheie^{1

2

3}, Jonas Kindervater^{4

2}, Shu Zhang^{4

2

5}, Hitesh J Changlani^{6

7}, Gabriele Sala³, Georg Ehlers⁸, Andre Heinemann⁹, Gregory S Tucker^{10

11}, Seyed M Koohpayeh^{4

2}, Collin Broholm^{4

2

12

13}

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Quantum Matter, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218; scheieao@ornl.gov.
² Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218.
³ Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831.
⁴ Institute for Quantum Matter, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218.
⁵ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095.
⁶ Department of Physics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306.
⁷ Condensed Matter Science, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Tallahassee, FL 32304.
⁸ Quantum Condensed Matter Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831.
⁹ German Engineering Materials Science Centre at Heinz Maier-LeibnitzZentrum, Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht GmbH, D-85748 Garching, Germany.
¹⁰ Laboratory for Neutron Scattering, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232 Villigen, Switzerland.
¹¹ Laboratory for Quantum Magnetism, Institute of Physics, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
¹² Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD 20899.
¹³ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218.

Abstract

We use neutron scattering to show that ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism coexist in the low T state of the pyrochlore quantum magnet [Formula: see text] While magnetic Bragg peaks evidence long-range static ferromagnetic order, inelastic scattering shows that short-range correlated antiferromagnetism is also present. Small-angle neutron scattering provides direct evidence for mesoscale magnetic structure that we associate with metastable antiferromagnetism. Classical Monte Carlo simulations based on exchange interactions inferred from [Formula: see text]-oriented high-field spin wave measurements confirm that antiferromagnetism is metastable within the otherwise ferromagnetic ground state. The apparent lack of coherent spin wave excitations and strong sensitivity to quenched disorder characterizing [Formula: see text] is a consequence of this multiphase magnetism.

Keywords: frustrated magnetism; neutron scattering; phase transitions; pyrochlore.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't