Quantum Spin Ice Dynamics in the Dipole-Octupole Pyrochlore Magnet Ce_{2}Zr_{2}O_{7}

J Gaudet; E M Smith; J Dudemaine; J Beare; C R C Buhariwalla; N P Butch; M B Stone; A I Kolesnikov; Guangyong Xu; D R Yahne; K A Ross; C A Marjerrison; J D Garrett; G M Luke; A D Bianchi; B D Gaulin

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.187201

Quantum Spin Ice Dynamics in the Dipole-Octupole Pyrochlore Magnet Ce_{2}Zr_{2}O_{7}

Phys Rev Lett. 2019 May 10;122(18):187201. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.187201.

Authors

J Gaudet^{1

2

3}, E M Smith¹, J Dudemaine⁴, J Beare¹, C R C Buhariwalla¹, N P Butch³, M B Stone⁵, A I Kolesnikov⁵, Guangyong Xu³, D R Yahne⁶, K A Ross^{6

7}, C A Marjerrison⁸, J D Garrett⁸, G M Luke^{1

7}, A D Bianchi^{4

9}, B D Gaulin^{1

7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4M1, Canada.
² Institute for Quantum Matter and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA.
³ Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, MS 6100 Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA.
⁴ Département de Physique, Université de Montréal, 2900 Boulevard Édouard-Montpetit, Montréal, Quebec, H3T 1J4, Canada.
⁵ Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA.
⁶ Department of Physics, Colorado State University, 200 West Lake Street, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1875, USA.
⁷ Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, 661 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1M1, Canada.
⁸ Brockhouse Institute for Materials Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4M1, Canada.
⁹ Regroupement Québécois sur les Matériaux de Pointe (RQMP), Quebec, H3T 3J7, Canada.

PMID: 31144900
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.187201

Abstract

Neutron scattering measurements on the pyrochlore magnet Ce_{2}Zr_{2}O_{7} reveal an unusual crystal field splitting of its lowest J=5/2 multiplet, such that its ground-state doublet is composed of m_{J}=±3/2, giving these doublets a dipole-octupole (DO) character with local Ising anisotropy. Its magnetic susceptibility shows weak antiferromagnetic correlations with θ_{CW}=-0.4(2) K, leading to a naive expectation of an all-in, all-out ordered state at low temperatures. Instead, our low-energy inelastic neutron scattering measurements show a dynamic quantum spin ice state, with suppressed scattering near |Q|=0, and no long-range order at low temperatures. This is consistent with recent theory predicting symmetry-enriched U(1) quantum spin liquids for such DO doublets decorating the pyrochlore lattice. Finally, we show that disorder, especially oxidation of powder samples, is important in Ce_{2}Zr_{2}O_{7} and could play an important role in the low-temperature behavior of this material.