Ordered Spin Ice State and Magnetic Fluctuations in Tb{sub 2}Sn{sub 2}O{sub 7}

Journal Article · Fri Jun 24 00:00:00 EDT 2005 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.246402· OSTI ID:20696407

Mirebeau, I; Apetrei, A; Rodriguez-Carvajal, J ^[1]; Bonville, P; Forget, A; Colson, D ^[2]; Glazkov, V; Sanchez, J P ^[3]; Isnard, O ^[4]; Suard, E ^[5]

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1. Laboratoire Leon Brillouin, CEA-CNRS, CE-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France)
2. Service de Physique de l'Etat Condense, CEA-CNRS, CE-Saclay, 91191 Gif-Sur-Yvette (France)
3. Service de Physique Statistique, Magnetisme et Supraconductivite, CEA-Grenoble, 38054 Grenoble (France)
4. Laboratoire de Cristallographie, Universite J. Fourier-CNRS, BP 166, 38042 Grenoble (France)
5. Institut Lauee Langevin, 6 rue Jules Horowitz, BP 156X, 38042 Grenoble (France)

We have studied the spin liquid Tb{sub 2}Sn{sub 2}O{sub 7} by neutron diffraction and specific heat measurements. Below about 2 K, the antiferromagnetic liquidlike correlations mostly change to ferromagnetic. Magnetic order settles in two steps, with a smeared transition at 1.3(1) K, then an abrupt transition at 0.87(2) K. A new magnetic structure is observed, akin to an ordered spin ice, with both ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic character. It suggests that the ordered ground state results from the influence of dipolar interactions combined with a finite anisotropy along <111> axes. The moment value of 3.3(3){mu}{sub B} deduced from the specific heat is well below that derived from the neutron diffraction of 5.9(1){mu}{sub B}, which is interpreted by the persistence of slow collective magnetic fluctuations down to the lowest temperatures.

• OSTI ID: 20696407
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 94, Issue 24; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.246402; (c) 2005 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ANISOTROPY
ANTIFERROMAGNETIC MATERIALS
ANTIFERROMAGNETISM
CORRELATIONS
FLUCTUATIONS
GROUND STATES
LIQUIDS
NEUTRON DIFFRACTION
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
SPECIFIC HEAT
SPIN
SPIN ORIENTATION
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0000-0013 K
TERBIUM COMPOUNDS
TIN OXIDES