Ordered spin-ice state in the geometrically frustrated metallic ferromagnet Sm2Mo2O7

Singh, Surjeet and Suryanarayanan, R and Tackett, R and Lawes, G and Sood, AK and Berthet, P and Revcolevschi, A (2008) Ordered spin-ice state in the geometrically frustrated metallic ferromagnet Sm2Mo2O7. In: Physical Review B: Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, 77 (2).

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Abstract

The recent discovery of spin ice is a spectacular example of the noncoplanar spin arrangements that can arise in the pyrochlore A2B2O7 structure. We present magnetic and thermodynamic studies on the metallic ferromagnet pyrochlore Sm2Mo2O7. Our studies, carried out on oriented crystals, suggest that the Sm spins have an ordered spin-ice ground state below about T*=15 K. The temperature and field evolution of the ordered spin-ice state are governed by an antiferromagnetic coupling between the Sm and Mo spins. We propose that as a consequence of a robust feature of this coupling, the tetrahedra aligned with the external field adopt a one-in, three-out spin structure as opposed to the three-in, one-out structure in dipolar spin ices, as the field exceeds a critical value.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Physical Review B: Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
Publisher:	The American Physical Society
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to The American Physical Society.
Department/Centre:	Division of Physical & Mathematical Sciences > Physics
Date Deposited:	26 Mar 2010 09:58
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 05:58
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/26562

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