Thermodynamic properties of quadrupolar states in the frustrated pyrochlore magnet Tb2_2Ti2_2O7_7

The low-temperature thermodynamic properties of the frustrated pyrochlore Tb$_{2+x}$Ti$_{2-x}$O$_{7+y}$ have been studied using the single crystal of $x=0.005$ sitting in a long range ordered phase in the $x$-$T$ phase diagram. We observed that the specific heat exhibits a minimum around 2 K and slightly increases on cooling, similar to a Schottky-like anomaly for canonical spin ices. A clear specific-heat peak observed at $T_{\rm c} = 0.53$ K is ascribable to the phase transition to a quadrupolar state, which contributes to a relatively large change in entropy, $S \simeq 2.7$ J K$^{-1}$mol$^{-1}$. However, it is still smaller than $R\ln2$ for the ground state doublet of the Tb ions. The entropy release persists to higher temperatures, suggesting strong fluctuations associated with spin ice correlations above $T_{\rm c}$. We discuss the field dependence of the entropy change for $H||[111]$ and $H||[001]$.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Singlet-triplet Crossover in the Two-dimensional Dimer Spin System YbAl3C3

Low-temperature magnetization (M) measurements down to 0.1 K have been performed in magnetic fields up to 14.5 T for a single piece of a tiny single-crystalline sample (0.2 mg weight) of the spin-gap system YbAl3C3. At the base temperature of 0.1 K, several metamagnetic transitions were clearly observed for H // c in the range 6 T < H < 9 T whereas only two transitions were observed, one at 4.8 T and the other at 6.6 T, for H // a. At fields above 9 T, the magnetization becomes almost saturated for both H // a and H // c. The present results indicate that a singlet-triplet crossover occurs in a relatively narrow field range, suggesting a rather weak interdimer interaction in spite of the nearly triangular lattice of Yb ions.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, proceedings of ICM 201