A novel type of splayed ferromagnetic order observed in Yb2Ti2O7.

The pyrochlore insulator Yb2Ti2O7 has attracted the attention of experimentalists and theoreticians alike for about 15 years. Conflicting neutron diffraction data on the possible existence of magnetic Bragg reflections at low temperature have been published. Here we report the observation of magnetic Bragg reflections by neutron powder diffraction at 60 mK. The magnetic diffraction pattern is analyzed using representation theory. We find Yb2Ti2O7 to be a splayed ferromagnet as reported for Yb2Sn2O7, a sibling compound with also dominating ferromagnetic interactions as inferred from the positive Curie-Weiss temperature. However, the configuration of the magnetic moment components perpendicular to the easy axis is of the all-in-all-out type in Yb2Ti2O7 while it is two-in-two-out in the Yb2Sn2O7. An overall experimental picture of the magnetic properties emerges.

Strong pressure dependence of the magnetic penetration depth in single crystals of the heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn5 studied by muon spin rotation.

In the tetragonal heavy fermion system CeCoIn(5) the unconventional superconducting state is probed by means of muon spin rotation. The pressure dependence (0-1 GPa) of the basal-plane magnetic penetration depth (λ(a)), the penetration depth anisotropy (γ = λ(c)/λ(a)) and the temperature dependence of 1/λ(i)(2) (i = a, c) were studied in single crystals. A strong decrease of λ(a) with pressure was observed, while γ and λ(i)(2)(0)/λ(i)(2)(T) are pressure independent. A linear relationship between 1/λ(a)(2)(270 mK) and T(c) was also found. The large decrease of λ(a) with pressure is the signature of an increase of the number of superconducting quasiparticles by a factor of about 2.

Dynamical splayed ferromagnetic ground state in the quantum spin ice Yb(2)Sn(2)O(7).

From magnetic, specific heat, (170)Yb Mössbauer effect, neutron diffraction, and muon spin relaxation measurements on polycrystalline Yb(2)Sn(2)O(7), we show that below the first order transition at 0.15 K all of the Yb(3+) ions are long-range magnetically ordered and each has a moment of 1.1 µ(B) which lies at ≃ 10° to a common fourfold cubic axis. The four sublattice moments have four different directions away from this axis and are therefore noncoplanar. We term this arrangement splayed ferromagnetism. This ground state has a dynamical component with a fluctuation rate in the megahertz range. The net ferromagnetic exchange interaction has an anisotropy that favors the local threefold axis. We discuss our results in terms of the phase diagram proposed by Savary and Balents [Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 037202 (2012)] for a pyrochlore lattice of Kramers 1/2 effective spins.

Crystal electric field in the R2Ti2O7 pyrochlore compounds.

Using a simple scaling law, a unique set of crystal-field parameters for the rare-earth ions R in the R(2)Ti(2)O(7) pyrochlore series is shown to provide a proper description of the crystal-field excitations previously observed by neutron scattering. The two spectroscopic g factors are given for the compounds with doublet ground states, as well as the ground-state wavefunctions for all the compounds.

Magnetic frustration in the disordered pyrochlore Yb(2)GaSbO(7).

In the pyrochlore Yb(2)GaSbO(7), the Yb(3+) sublattice forms a network of corner sharing tetrahedra and the second sublattice is made up of disordered, non-magnetic Ga(3+) and Sb(5+) ions. We have examined this compound using magnetic susceptibility, (170)Yb Mössbauer spectroscopy (down to 0.03 K) and muon spin relaxation (µSR) (down to 0.02 K) measurements. We establish the size of the Yb(3+) magnetic moments and that of the Yb(3+)-Yb(3+) coupling. At low temperatures, the correlated moments fluctuate between directions that are well tilted relative to the local [111] axis. The lattice disorder does not quench the frustration induced low temperature spin fluctuations but it does remove the first order dynamic transition that is present in the crystallographically ordered counterpart Yb(2)Ti(2)O(7). Below 1.0 K, the fluctuation rate of the correlated moments decreases progressively as the temperature is reduced and the moments remain dynamic down to 0.02 K where the rate is 7 × 10(7) s(-1). Magnetic frustration is operative in Yb(2)GaSbO(7) where the Yb(3+)-Yb(3+) interaction is antiferromagnetic as it is in Yb(2)Ti(2)O(7) where the interaction is ferromagnetic.

CdEr2Se4: a new erbium spin ice system in a spinel structure.

Here we present a detailed study of the spinel CdEr2Se4 and show it to be a new instance of spin ice, the first one in an erbium material and the first one in a spinel. Definitive experimental evidence comes from the temperature dependence of the magnetic entropy, which shows an excellent agreement with the predicted behavior for a spin ice state. Crystal field calculations demonstrate that the change in the local environment from that of the titanates completely alters the rare-earth anisotropy giving rise, in the case of Er3+, to the required Ising anisotropy, when Er2Ti2O7 behaves as an XY antiferromagnet. This finding opens up the possibility of new exotic ground states within the CdR2Se4 and CdR2Se4 families.

Spin dynamics and magnetic order in magnetically frustrated Tb2Sn2O7.

We report a study of the geometrically frustrated magnetic material Tb2Sn2O7 by the positive muon-spin relaxation technique. No signature of a static magnetically ordered state is detected while neutron magnetic reflections are observed in agreement with a published report. This is explained by the dynamical nature of the ground state of Tb2Sn2O7: the Tb3+ magnetic moment characteristic fluctuation time is approximately 10(-10) s. The strong effect of the magnetic field on the muon-spin-lattice relaxation rate at low fields indicates a large field-induced increase of the magnetic density of states of the collective excitations at low energy.

Magnetic density of states at low energy in geometrically frustrated systems.

Using muon-spin-relaxation measurements we show that the pyrochlore compound Gd(2)Ti(2)O(7), in its magnetically ordered phase below approximately 1 K, displays persistent spin dynamics down to temperatures as low as 20 mK. The characteristics of the induced muon relaxation can be accounted for by a scattering process involving two magnetic excitations, with a density of states characterized by an upturn at low energy and a small gap depending linearly on the temperature. We propose that such a density of states is a generic feature of geometrically frustrated magnetic materials.

Absence of magnetic order in Yb3Ga5O12: relation between phase transition and entropy in geometrically frustrated materials.

From muon spin relaxation spectroscopy experiments, we show that the sharp peak (lambda-type anomaly) detected by specific heat measurements at 54 mK for the ytterbium gallium garnet compound, Yb3Ga5O12, does not correspond to the onset of a magnetic phase transition, but to a pronounced building up of dynamical magnetic pair correlations. Beside the lambda anomaly, a broad hump is observed at higher temperature in the specific heat of this garnet and other geometrically frustrated compounds. Comparing with other frustrated magnetic systems we infer that a ground state with long-range order is reached only when at least 1/4-1/3 of the magnetic entropy is released at the lambda transition.

Evidence for weak itinerant long-range magnetic correlations in UGe2.

Positive muon spin relaxation measurements performed on the ferromagnet UGe2 reveal, in addition to the well-known localized 5f-electron density responsible for the bulk magnetic properties, the existence of itinerant quasistatic magnetic correlations. Their critical dynamics is well described by the conventional dipolar Heisenberg model. These correlations involve small magnetic moments.

First-order transition in the spin dynamics of geometrically frustrated Yb2Ti2O7.

Using neutron diffraction, 170Yb Mössbauer and muon spin relaxation spectroscopies, we have examined the pyrochlore Yb2Ti2O7, where the Yb3+S' = 1/2 ground state has planar anisotropy. Below approximately 0.24 K, the temperature of the known specific-heat lambda transition, there is no long range magnetic order. We show that the transition corresponds to a first-order change in the fluctuation rate of the Yb3+ spins. Above the transition temperature, the rate, in the GHz range, follows a thermal excitation law, whereas below, the rate, in the MHz range, is temperature independent, indicative of a quantum fluctuation regime.

Evidence for a two component magnetic response in UPt3

The magnetic response of the heavy fermion superconductor UPt3 has been investigated on a microscopic scale by muon Knight shift studies. Two distinct and isotropic Knight shifts have been found for the field in the basal plane. While the volume fractions associated with the two Knight shifts are approximately equal at low and high temperatures, they show a dramatic and opposite temperature dependence around T(N). Our results are independent on the precise muon localization site. We conclude that UPt3 is characterized by a two component magnetic response.