Crystal-field interaction in the pyrochlore magnet Ho{sub 2}Ti{sub 2}O{sub 7}
- Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Ilinois 60439 (United States)
- Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, 600 Mountain Avenue, Murray Hill, New Jersey 07974 (United States)
- Chemistry Department, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 (United States)
- Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, (India)
Neutron time-of-flight spectroscopy has been employed to study the crystal-field interaction in the pyrochlore titanate Ho{sub 2}Ti{sub 2}O{sub 7}. The crystal-field parameters and corresponding energy-level scheme have been determined from a profile fit to the observed neutron spectra. The ground state is a well separated E{sub g} doublet with a strong Ising-like anisotropy, which can give rise to frustration in the pyrochlore lattice. Using the crystal-field parameters determined for the Ho compound as an estimate of the crystal-field potential in other pyrochlore magnets, we also find the Ising type behavior for Dy. In contrast, the almost planar anisotropy found for Er and Yb prevents frustration, because of the continuous range of possible spin orientations in this case. (c) 2000 American Institute of Physics.
- OSTI ID:
- 20216257
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 87, Issue 9; Other Information: PBD: 1 May 2000; ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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