Low-temperature muon spin rotation studies of the monopole charges and currents in Y doped Ho2Ti2O7

In the ground state of Ho2Ti2O7 spin ice, the disorder of the magnetic moments follows the same rules as the proton disorder in water ice. Excitations take the form of magnetic monopoles that interact via a magnetic Coulomb interaction. Muon spin rotation has been used to probe the low-temperature magnetic behaviour in single crystal Ho2−xYxTi2O7 (x = 0, 0.1, 1, 1.6 and 2). At very low temperatures, a linear field dependence for the relaxation rate of the muon precession λ(B), that in some previous experiments on Dy2Ti2O7 spin ice has been associated with monopole currents, is observed in samples with x = 0, and 0.1. A signal from the magnetic fields penetrating into the silver sample plate due to the magnetization of the crystals is observed for all the samples containing Ho allowing us to study the unusual magnetic dynamics of Y doped spin ice

Spin correlations in Ca3Co2O6: Polarized-neutron diffraction and Monte Carlo study

We present polarized-neutron diffraction measurements of the Ising-type spin-chain compound Ca3Co2O6 above and below the magnetic ordering temperature TN. Below TN, a clear evolution from a pure spin-density wave (SDW) structure to a mixture of SDW and commensurate antiferromagnet (CAFM) structures is observed on cooling. For a rapidly cooled sample, the majority phase at low temperature is the SDW, while if the cooling is performed sufficiently slowly, then the SDW and the CAFM structure coexist between 1.5 and 10 K. Above TN, we use Monte Carlo methods to analyze the magnetic diffuse scattering data. We show that both intrachain and interchain correlations persist above TN, but are essentially decoupled. Intrachain correlations resemble the one-dimensional ferromagnetic Ising model, while interchain correlations resemble the frustrated triangular-lattice antiferromagnet. Using previously published bulk property measurements and our neutron diffraction data, we obtain values of the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic exchange interactions and the single-ion anisotropy. © 2014 American Physical Society

Structural and magnetic investigations of single-crystalline neodymium zirconate pyrochlore Nd 2 Zr 2 O 7

© 2015 American Physical Society. We report structural and magnetic properties studies of large high-quality single crystals of the frustrated magnet Nd2Zr2O7. Powder x-ray diffraction analysis confirms that Nd2Zr2O7 adopts the pyrochlore structure. Room-temperature x-ray diffraction and time-of-flight neutron-scattering experiments show that the crystals are stoichiometric in composition with no measurable site disorder. The temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility shows no magnetic ordering at temperatures down to 0.5 K. Fits to the magnetic susceptibility data using a Curie-Weiss law reveal a ferromagnetic coupling between the Nd moments. Magnetization versus field measurements show a local Ising anisotropy along the 111 axes of the Nd3+ ions in the ground state. Specific heat versus temperature measurements in zero applied magnetic field indicate the presence of a thermal anomaly below T∼7 K, but no evidence of magnetic ordering is observed down to 0.5 K. The experimental temperature dependence of the single-crystal bulk dc susceptibility and isothermal magnetization are analyzed using crystal field theory and the crystal field parameters and exchange coupling constants determined