317 research outputs found
Critical X-ray Scattering Studies of Jahn-Teller Phase Transitions in TbVAsO
The critical behaviour associated with cooperative Jahn-Teller phase
transitions in TbVAsO (where \textit{x} = 0, 0.17, 1)
single crystals have been studied using high resolution x-ray scattering. These
materials undergo continuous tetragonal orthorhombic structural phase
transitions driven by Jahn-Teller physics at T = 33.26(2) K, 30.32(2) K and
27.30(2) K for \textit{x} = 0, 0.17 and 1 respectively. The orthorhombic strain
was measured close to the phase transition and is shown to display mean field
behavior in all three samples. Pronounced fluctuation effects are manifest in
the longitudinal width of the Bragg scattering, which diverges as a power law,
with an exponent given by , on approaching the transition from
either above or below. All samples exhibited twinning; however the disordered x
= 0.17 sample showed a broad distribution of twins which were stable to
relatively low temperatures, well below T. This indicates that while the
orthorhombic strain continues to develop in a conventional mean field manner in
the presence of disorder, twin domains are easily pinned by the quenched
impurities and their associated random strains.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
Neutron spectroscopic study of crystal field excitations in Tb2Ti2O7 and Tb2Sn2O7
We present time-of-flight inelastic neutron scattering measurements at low
temperature on powder samples of the magnetic pyrochlore oxides Tb2Ti2O7 and
Tb2Sn2O7. These two materials possess related, but different ground states,
with Tb2Sn2O7 displaying "soft" spin ice order below Tn~0.87 K, while Tb2Ti2O7
enters a hybrid, glassy spin ice state below Tg~0.2 K. Our neutron
measurements, performed at T=1.5 K and 30 K, probe the crystal field states
associated with the J=6 states of Tb3+ within the appropriate Fd\bar{3}m
pyrochlore environment. These crystal field states determine the size and
anisotropy of the Tb3+ magnetic moment in each material's ground state,
information that is an essential starting point for any description of the
low-temperature phase behavior and spin dynamics in Tb2Ti2O7 and Tb2Sn2O7.
While these two materials have much in common, the cubic stanate lattice is
expanded compared to the cubic titanate lattice. As our measurements show, this
translates into a factor of ~2 increase in the crystal field bandwidth of the
2J+1=13 states in Tb2Ti2O7 compared with Tb2Sn2O7. Our results are consistent
with previous measurements on crystal field states in Tb2Sn2O7, wherein the
ground state doublet corresponds primarily to m_J=|\pm 5> and the first excited
state doublet to mJ=|\pm 4>. In contrast, our results on Tb2Ti2O7 differ
markedly from earlier studies, showing that the ground state doublet
corresponds to a significant mixture of mJ=|\pm 5>, |\mp 4>, and |\pm 2>, while
the first excited state doublet corresponds to a mixture of mJ=|\pm 4>, |\mp
5>, and |\pm 1>. We discuss these results in the context of proposed mechanisms
for the failure of Tb2Ti2O7 to develop conventional long-range order down to 50
mK.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures. Version is the same as the published one, except
for figure placement on page
Spin Waves in the Ferromagnetic Ground State of the Kagome Staircase System Co3V2O8
Inelastic neutron scattering measurements were performed on single crystal
Co3V2O8 wherein magnetic cobalt ions reside on distinct spine and cross-tie
sites within kagome staircase planes. This system displays a rich magnetic
phase diagram which culminates in a ferromagnetic ground state below Tc~6 K. We
have studied the low-lying magnetic excitations in this phase within the kagome
plane. Despite the complexity of the system at higher temperatures, linear
spin-wave theory describes most of the quantitative detail of the inelastic
neutron measurements. Our results show two spin-wave branches, the higher
energy of which displays finite spin-wave lifetimes well below Tc, and
negligible magnetic exchange coupling between Co moments on the spine sites.Comment: 4 pages and 4 figure
High resolution X-ray scattering studies of structural phase transitions in underdoped LaBaCuO
We have studied structural phase transitions in high quality underdoped
LaBaCuO single crystals using high resolution x-ray scattering
techniques. Critical properties associated with the continuous High Temperature
Tetragonal (HTT, ) to Middle Temperature Orthorhombic (MTO, )
phase transition were investigated in single crystal samples with x=0.125,
0.095, and 0.08 and we find that all behavior is consistent with three
dimensional XY criticality, as expected from theory. Power law behavior in the
orthorhombic strain, 2(a-b)/(a+b), is observed over a remarkably wide
temperature range, spanning most of the MTO regime in the phase diagram. Low
temperature measurements investigating the Low Temperature Tetragonal (LTT,
) phase, below the strongly discontinuous MTOLTT phase
transition, in x=0.125 and x=0.095 samples show that the LTT phase is
characterized by relatively broad Bragg scattering, compared with that observed
at related wavevectors in the HTT phase. This shows that the LTT phase is
either an admixture of tetragonal and orthorhombic phases, or that it is
orthorhombic with very small orthorhombic strain, consistent with the ``less
orthorhombic" low temperature structure previously reported in mixed
LaSrBaCuO single crystals. We compare the complex
temperature-composition phase diagram for the location of structural and
superconducting phase transitions in underdoped LaBaCuO and
find good agreement with results obtained on polycrystalline samples.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl
Quenched crystal field disorder and magnetic liquid ground states in Tb2Sn2-xTixO7
Solid-solutions of the "soft" quantum spin ice pyrochlore magnets Tb2B2O7
with B=Ti and Sn display a novel magnetic ground state in the presence of
strong B-site disorder, characterized by a low susceptibility and strong spin
fluctuations to temperatures below 0.1 K. These materials have been studied
using ac-susceptibility and muSR techniques to very low temperatures, and
time-of-flight inelastic neutron scattering techniques to 1.5 K. Remarkably,
neutron spectroscopy of the Tb3+ crystal field levels appropriate to at high
B-site mixing (0.5 < x < 1.5 in Tb2Sn2-xTixO7) reveal that the doublet ground
and first excited states present as continua in energy, while transitions to
singlet excited states at higher energies simply interpolate between those of
the end members of the solid solution. The resulting ground state suggests an
extreme version of a random-anisotropy magnet, with many local moments and
anisotropies, depending on the precise local configuration of the six B sites
neighboring each magnetic Tb3+ ion.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
Lack of Evidence for a Singlet Crystal Field Ground State in the Tb2Ti2O7 Magnetic Pyrochlore
We present new high resolution inelastic neutron scattering data on the
candidate spin liquid Tb2Ti2O7. We find that there is no evidence for a zero
field splitting of the ground state doublet within the 0.2 K resolution of the
instrument. This result contrasts with a pair of recent works on Tb2Ti2O7
claiming that the spin liquid behavior can be attributed to a 2 K split
singlet-singlet single-ion spectrum at low energies. We also reconsider the
entropy argument presented in Chapuis {\it et al.} as further evidence of a
singlet-singlet crystal field spectrum. We arrive at the conclusion that
estimates of the low temperature residual entropy drawn from heat capacity
measurements are a poor guide to the single ion spectrum without understanding
the nature of the correlations.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure. Submitted to Physical Review
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