Abstract
The magnetic ground state of the pyrochlore Yb2GaSbO7 has not been established. The persistent spin fluctuations observed by muon spin-relaxation measurements at low temperatures have not been adequately explained for this material using existing theories for quantum magnetism. Here we report on the synthesis and characterisation of Yb2GaSbO7 to revisit the nature of the magnetic ground state. Through DC and AC magnetic susceptibility, heat capacity, and neutron scattering experiments, we observe evidence for a dynamical ground state that makes Yb2GaSbO7 a promising candidate for disorder-induced spin-liquid or spin-singlet behaviour. This state is quite fragile, being tuned to a splayed ferromagnet in a modest magnetic field μ0Hc ~ 1.5 T.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 42 |
| Journal | npj Quantum Materials |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2021 |
Funding
We acknowledge useful conversations with A.J. Browne, G.M. McNally, G. Perversi, T.J. Williams, K.J. Camacho, R.K. Camacho, A. Reyes, and C. Schwenk. P.M.S. & B.R.O. acknowledge financial support from the University of California, Santa Barbara through the Elings Fellowship. P.M.S. acknowledges additional financial support from the CCSF, RSC, ERC, and the University of Edinburgh through the GRS and PCDS. C.R.W. acknowledges financial support from the CRC (Tier II) programme, the Leverhulme Trust, CIFAR, CFI and NSERC. M.M.B. acknowledges partial support by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Programme under Grant No. 1650114. S.D.W. and M.M.B. acknowledge financial support from the US Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering under Grant No. DE-SC0017752. H.D.Z. acknowledges financial support from Grant No. NSF-DMR-2003117. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation\u2019s Q-AMASE-i initiative under award DMR-1906325. J.A.M.P.\u2019s work was supported by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Programme of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle, LLC for the US Department of Energy. The authors would like to thank the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland for providing facilities and equipment for chemical synthesis. This research was undertaken thanks in part to funding from the Max Planck-UBC-UTokyo Centre for Quantum Materials and the Canada First Research Excellence Fund, Quantum Materials and Future Technologies Programme. A portion of this work was performed at the NHMFL, which is supported by National Science Foundation Cooperative Agreement No. DMR-1157490 and the State of Florida. Access to DCS was provided by the Center for High-Resolution Neutron Scattering, a partnership between the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Science Foundation under Agreement No. DMR-2010792. A portion of this research used resources at the Spallation Neutron Source and High Flux Isotope Reactor, which are DOE Office of Science User Facilities operated by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Neutron data collection (https://doi.org/10.5291/ILL-DATA.5-32-849) on the Diffuse Scattering Spectrometer D7 at the ILL took place with financial support from proposal 5-32-849 awarded to P.M.S., J.P.A., L.M., and C.R.W.