Static magnetic moments revealed by muon spin relaxation and thermodynamic measurements in quantum spin ice Yb$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$

Abstract

We present muon spin relaxation ($\mu$SR) and specific-heat versus temperature $C(T)$ measurements on polycrystalline and single-crystal samples of the pyrochlore magnet Yb$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$. $C(T)$ exhibits a sharp peak at a $T_\mathrm{C}$ of 0.21 and 0.26~K for the single-crystal and polycrystalline samples respectively. For both samples, the magnetic entropy released between 50~mK and 30~K amounts to $R\ln2$ per Yb. At temperatures below $T_\mathrm{C}$ we observe a steep drop in the asymmetry of the zero-field $\mu$SR time spectra at short time scales, as well as a decoupling of the muon spins from the internal field in longitudinal magnetic fields of $\leq0.25$~T for both the polycrystalline and single-crystal samples. These muon data are indicative of static magnetic moments. Our results are consistent with the onset of long-range magnetic order in both forms of Yb$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted to PR