Multiple Coulomb phase in the fluoride pyrochlore CsNiCrF6

The Coulomb phase is an idealized state of matter whose properties are determined by factors beyond conventional considerations of symmetry, including global topology, conservation laws and emergent order. Theoretically, Coulomb phases occur in ice-type systems such as water ice and spin ice; in dimer models; and in certain spin liquids. However, apart from ice-type systems, more general experimental examples are very scarce. Here we study the partly disordered material CsNiCrF6 and show that this material is a multiple Coulomb phase with signature correlations in three degrees of freedom: charge configurations, atom displacements and spin configurations. We use neutron and X-ray scattering to separate these correlations and to determine the magnetic excitation spectrum. Our results show how the structural and magnetic properties of apparently disordered materials may inherit, and be dictated by, a hidden symmetry—the local gauge symmetry of an underlying Coulomb phase

Powder Diffraction Crystallography of Molecular Solids

Many important crystalline solids cannot be prepared as single crystals of suitable size and quality for structural characterization by conventional single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques and can instead be prepared only as microcrystalline powders. However, recent advances in techniques for determining crystal structures directly from powder X-ray diffraction data have created a unique opportunity for establishing structural properties of such materials. This chapter surveys the applications of powder X-ray diffraction across various aspects of structural and materials chemistry, focusing mainly on the opportunities that have emerged in recent years for carrying out complete crystal structure determination from powder X-ray diffraction data and giving particular emphasis to the case of molecular crystal structures. The current scope and future potential of powder X-ray diffraction as a strategy for crystal structure determination are discussed, and examples of applications across several disciplines of materials chemistry are presented