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Title: Orbital Dimer Model for the Spin-Glass State in Y 2 Mo 2 O 7

Journal Article · · Physical Review Letters
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [4];  [1];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Oxford, Oxford (United Kingdom)
  2. Univ. of Oxford, Oxford (United Kingdom); Rutherford Appleton Lab., Oxfordshire (United Kingdom); Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
  3. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
  4. Rutherford Appleton Lab., Oxfordshire (United Kingdom)
  5. Rutherford Appleton Lab., Oxfordshire (United Kingdom); Diamond Light Source, Oxfordshire (United Kingdom); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

The formation of a spin glass generally requires that magnetic exchange interactions are both frustrated and disordered. Consequently, the origin of spin-glass behavior in Y2Mo2O7-in which magnetic Mo4+ ions occupy a frustrated pyrochlore lattice with minimal compositional disorder-has been a longstanding question. Here, we use neutron and x-ray pair-distribution function (PDF) analysis to develop a disorder model that resolves apparent incompatibilities between previously reported PDF, extended x-rayabsorption fine structure spectroscopy, and NMR studies, and provides a new and physical explanation of the exchange disorder responsible for spin-glass formation. We show that Mo4+ ions displace according to a local "two-in-two-out" rule on each Mo4 tetrahedron, driven by orbital dimerization of Jahn-Teller active Mo4+ ions. Long-range orbital order is prevented by the macroscopic degeneracy of dimer coverings permitted by the pyrochlore lattice. Cooperative O2- displacements yield a distribution of Mo-O-Mo angles, which in turn introduces disorder into magnetic interactions. In conclusion, our study demonstrates experimentally how frustration of atomic displacements can assume the role of compositional disorder in driving a spin-glass transition.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, ISIS Pulsed Neutron and Muon Facility; STFC Daresbury Laboratory; Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC); European Research Council (ERC); Argonne National Laboratory, Advanced Photon Source; USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
1390903
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1343354
Journal Information:
Physical Review Letters, Vol. 118, Issue 6; ISSN 0031-9007
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 32 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (8)

Universal geometric frustration in pyrochlores journal July 2018
Local orbital degeneracy lifting as a precursor to an orbital-selective Peierls transition journal August 2019
First-principles studies of spin-orbital physics in pyrochlore oxides journal May 2019
Thermodynamics of the pyrochlore-lattice quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet journal July 2019
Orbital molecules in vanadium oxide spinels journal January 2020
Spin-Orbital Glass Transition in a Model of a Frustrated Pyrochlore Magnet without Quenched Disorder journal February 2020
Persistent three- and four-atom orbital molecules in the spinel Al V 2 O 4 journal October 2017
First-principles studies of spin-orbital physics in pyrochlore oxides text January 2018