We report the low-temperature properties of SrNd$_2$O$_4$, a geometrically frustrated magnet. Magnetisation and heat capacity measurements performed on polycrystalline samples indicate the appearance of a magnetically ordered state at $T_{\rm N}=2.28(4)$~K. Powder neutron diffraction measurements reveal that an \afm\ state with the propagation vector \QV\ is stabilised below this temperature. The magnetic order is incomplete, as only one of the two Nd$^{3+}$ sites carries a significant magnetic moment while the other site remains largely disordered. The presence of a disordered magnetic component below $T_{\rm N}$ is confirmed with polarised neutron diffraction measurements. In an applied magnetic field, the bulk properties measurements indicate a phase transition at about 30~kOe. We construct a tentative $H$-$T$ phase diagram of \sno\ from these measurements.
We investigate spin diffusion in geometrically frustrated Heisenberg antiferromagnets. It is found that the diffusion constant gradually increases from its high temperature limit as the temperature approaches the peak temperature of the susceptibility. Below the peak, the exponential decrease in the susceptibility leads to a rapid increase in the rate of spin diffusion. Detailed results are presented for the pyrochlore lattice with nearest-neighbor interactions.
The correct stacking of hexagonal layers is used to obtain accurate estimates for the exchange and anisotropy parameters of the geometrically-frustrated antiferromagnet CuFeO$_2$. Those parameters are highly constrained by the stability of a collinear metamagnetic phase between fields of 13.5 and 20 T. Constrained fits of the spin-wave frequencies of the collinear $\uudd $ phase below 7 T are used to identify the magnetic unit cell of the metamagnetic $\uuudd $ phase, which contains two hexagonal layers and 10 Fe$^{3+}$ spins.
The anomalous Hall effect is investigated for ferromagnetic Fe3Sn2 single crystal with geometrically frustrated kagome bilayer of Fe. The scaling behavior between anomalous Hall resistivity rho_{xy}^{A} and longitudinal resistivity rho_{xx} is quadratic and further analysis implies that the AHE in Fe3Sn2 single crystal should be dominated by the intrinsic Karplus-Luttinger mechanism rather than extrinsic skew-scattering or side-jump mechanisms. Moreover, there is a sudden jump of anomalous Hall conductivity sigma_{xy}^{A} appearing at about 100 K where the spin-reorientation transition from th…
This work examines the critical anisotropy required for the local stability of the collinear ground states of a geometrically-frustrated triangular-lattice antiferromagnet (TLA). Using a Holstein-Primakoff expansion, we calculate the spin-wave frequencies for the 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8-sublattice (SL) ground states of a TLA with up to third neighbor interactions. Local stability requires that all spin-wave frequencies are real and positive. The 2, 4, and 8-SL phases break up into several regions where the critical anisotropy is a different function of the exchange parameters. We find that the criti…
The frustrated magnet has been regarded as a system that could be a promising host material for the quantum spin liquid (QSL). However, it is difficult to determine the spin configuration and the corresponding mechanism in this system, because of its geometrical frustration (i.e., crystal structure and symmetry). Herein, we systematically investigate one of the geometrically frustrated magnets, the TbB$_{4}$ compound. Using resonant soft x-ray scattering (RSXS), we explored its spin configuration, as well as Tb's quadrupole. Comprehensive evaluations of the temperature and photon energy / pola…
We have investigated the magnetic, dielectric and magnetodielectric (MDE) behavior of a geometrically frustrated spin-chain system, Ca3Co1.4Rh0.6O6, in the single crystalline form for different orientations. The results bring out that the magnetic behavior of this compound is by itself interesting in the sense that this compound exhibits an anisotropic glassy-like magnetic behavior with a huge frequency dependence of ac susceptibility peak for an orientation along the spin-chain in the range 30-60 K; this behavior is robust to applications of large external magnetic fields (H) unlike in canoni…
We report on the observation of a large topological Hall effect (THE) over a wide temperature region in a geometrically frustrated Fe3Sn2 magnet with a kagome-bilayer structure. We found that the magnitude of the THE resistivity increases with temperature and reaches -0.875 μΩ.cm at 380 K. Moreover, the critical magnetic fields with the change of THE are consistent with the magnetic structure transformation, which indicates that the real-space fictitious magnetic field is proportional to the formation of magnetic skyrmions in Fe3Sn2. The results strongly suggest that the large THE originates f…
The spin wave excitations of the geometrically frustrated triangular lattice antiferromagnet (TLA) $\rm CuFeO_2$ have been measured using high resolution inelastic neutron scattering. Antiferromagnetic interactions up to third nearest neighbors in the ab plane (J_1, J_2, J_3, with $J_2/J_1 \approx 0.44$ and $J_3/J_1 \approx 0.57$), as well as out-of-plane coupling (J_z, with $J_z/J_1 \approx 0.29$) are required to describe the spin wave dispersion relations, indicating a three dimensional character of the magnetic interactions. Two energy dips in the spin wave dispersion occur at the incommens…
Geometrically frustrated magnetic molecules have attracted a lot of interest in the field of molecular magnetism as well as frustrated Heisenberg antiferromagnets. In this article we demonstrate how an approximate diagonalization scheme can be used in order to obtain thermodynamic and spectroscopic information about frustrated magnetic molecules. To this end we theoretically investigate an antiferromagnetically coupled spin system with cuboctahedral structure modeled by an isotropic Heisenberg Hamiltonian.
The effect of site dilution by non magnetic impurities on the susceptibility of geometrically frustrated antiferromagnets (kagome and pyrochlore lattices) is discussed in the framework of the Generalized Constant Coupling model, for both classical and quantum Heisenberg spins. For the classical diluted pyrochlore lattice, excellent agreement is found when compared with Monte Carlo data. Results for the quantum case are also presented and discussed.
A generalized constant coupling approximation for quantum geometrically frustrated antiferromagnets is presented. Starting from a frustrated unit, we introduce the interactions with the surrounding units in terms of an internal effective field which is fixed by a self consistency condition. Results for the static magnetic susceptibility and specific heat are compared with previous results in the framework of this same model for the classical limit. The range of applicability of the model is discussed.
We report the growth of large high quality crystals of the frustrated magnet, Pr2Zr2O7 by the floating zone technique. Several crystals have been produced starting with varying levels of excess of Pr6O11 to compensate for the loss of Pr2O3 during the growth process. X-ray diffraction analysis of the crystals shows that the Pr composition in our crystals, as determined by the Pr site occupancy in the pyrochlore structure, is always slightly less than 1. Fits to the magnetic sus-ceptibility data below 10 K using a Curie-Weiss law reveal an antiferromagnetic coupling between the Pr moments, with …
Ca3Co2O6 is a system exhibiting a series of fascinating properties, including magnetization plateaus and remarkably slow dynamics at low-T. These properties are intimately related to the geometrical frustration, which results from a particular combination of features: (i) the chains are arranged on a triangular lattice; (ii) there is a large uniaxial anisotropy; (iii) the intrachain and interchain couplings are ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic, respectively. The uniaxial anisotropy is thus an issue of crucial importance for the analysis of the physical properties of Ca3Co2O6. However, it tu…
We measured two magnetic modes with finite and discrete energies in an antiferromagnetic ordered phase of a geometrically frustrated magnet MgCr2O4 by single-crystal inelastic neutron scattering, and clarified the spatial spin correlations of the two levels: one is an antiferromagnetic hexamer and the other is an antiferromagnetic heptamer. Since these correlation types are emblematic of quasielastic scattering with geometric frustration, our results indicate instantaneous suppression of lattice distortion in an ordered phase by spin-lattice coupling, probably also supported by orbital and cha…
The recent discovery of Spin-ice is a spectacular example of non-coplanar 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 …
Using inelastic magnetic neutron scattering we have discovered a localized spin resonance at 4.5 meV in the ordered phase of the geometrically frustrated cubic antiferromagnet $\rm ZnCr_2O_4$. The resonance develops abruptly from quantum critical fluctuations upon cooling through a first order transition to a co-planar antiferromagnet at $T_c=12.5(5)$ K. We argue that this transition is a three dimensional analogue of the spin-Peierls transition.
We have investigated the magnetic behavior of the nano crystals, synthesized by high-energy ball-milling, for a well-known geometrically frustrated spin-chain system, Ca3CoRhO6, and compared its magnetic characteristics with those of the bulk form by measuring ac and dc magnetization. The features attributable to the onset of 'partially disordered antiferromagnetism' (characterizing the bulk form) are not seen in the magnetization data of the nano particles; the magnetic moment at high fields in the very low temperature range in the magnetically ordered state gets relatively enhanced in the na…
These lecture notes are intended to provide a simple overview of the physics of geometrically frustrated magnets. The emphasis is on classical and semiclassical treatments of the statistical mechanics and dynamics of frustrated Heisenberg models, and on the ways in which the results provide an understanding of some of the main observed properties of these systems.
The nature of the low temperature ground state of the pyrochlore compound Tb2Ti2O7 remains a puzzling issue. Dynamic fluctuations and short-range correlations persist down to 50 mK, as evidenced by microscopic probes. In parallel, magnetization measurements show irreversibilities and glassy behavior below 200 mK. We have performed magnetization and AC susceptibility measurements on four single crystals down to 57 mK. We did not observe a clear plateau in the magnetization as a function of field along the [111] direction, as suggested by the quantum spin ice model. In addition to a freezing aro…
Starting from the archetypical geometrically frustrated magnetic objects -- equilateral triangle and tetrahedron -- we consider an imaginary object: a multidimensional tetrahedron with spins $1/2$ in the each vertex and equal Heisenberg magnetic exchange along each edge. Many-particle case is obtained by setting dimensionality $d$ to high numbers, hence providing likely the most geometrically frustrated magnetic system ever possible. This problem has an exact solution for each $d$, obtained by simple student-level approach. As a result, this imaginary object clearly demonstrates at $d\to{}\inf…
Weyl semimetal is a topologically non-trivial phase of matter with pairs of Weyl nodes in the k-space, which act as monopole and anti-monopole pairs of Berry curvature. Two hallmarks of the Weyl metallic state are the topological surface state called the Fermi arc and the chiral anomaly. It is known that the chiral anomaly yields anomalous magneto-transport phenomena. In this study, we report the emergence of the type-II Weyl semimetallic state in the geometrically frustrated non-collinear antiferromagnetic Shastry-Sutherland lattice (SSL) GdB4 crystal. When we apply magnetic fields perpendicu…
A generalized constant coupling approximation for classical geometrically frustrated antiferromagnets is presented. Starting from a frustrated unit we introduce the interactions with the surrounding units in terms of an internal effective field which is fixed by a self consistency condition. Results for the magnetic susceptibility and specific heat are compared with Monte Carlo data for the classical Heisenberg model for the pyrochlore and kagome lattices. The predictions for the susceptibility are found to be essentially exact, and the corresponding predictions for the specific heat are found…
SrHo2O4 is a geometrically frustrated compound because the Ho^3+ ions are arranged in a network of triangles and hexagons and coupled with antiferromagnetic exchange interactions. Powder neutron diffraction measurements show that long-range magnetic order is established at T_N = 0.68 K. The low temperature magnetic structure is made up of two distinct components: a k = 0 long-range structure as well as a shorter-range low-dimensional structure with scattering intensity around the (0 0 1/2) position. The diffuse component of the magnetic scattering from SrHo2O4 remains very intense at temperatu…
This paper examines the relation between the spin-wave instabilities of collinear magnetic phases and the resulting non-collinear phases for a geometrically-frustrated triangular-lattice antiferromagnet in the high spin limit. Using a combination of phenomenological and Monte-Carlo techniques, we demonstrate that the instability wave-vector with the strongest intensity in the collinear phase determines the wave-vector of a cycloid or the dominant elastic peak of a more complex non-collinear phase. Our results are related to the observed multi-ferroic phase of Al-doped CuFeO$_2$.
Spin correlations in the geometrically frustrated RBaCo4O7 compounds, usually described as an alternating stacking of Kagome and triangular layers on a hexagonal lattice, have been studied by mean-field approach and by Monte-Carlo simulations. The behavior of the system was modelled with an isotropic Heisenberg Hamiltonian as a function of the relevant parameter Jout/Jin, representing the ratio between exchange integrals inside the Kagome layers, Jin, and between Kagome and triangular layers, Jout. This ratio can be varied in real systems by appropriate chemical substitutions. At the mean-fiel…
We investigate the consequences for geometrically frustrated antiferromagnets of weak disorder in the strength of exchange interactions. Taking as a model the classical Heisenberg antiferromagnet with nearest neighbour exchange on the pyrochlore lattice, we examine low-temperature behaviour. We show that random exchange generates long-range effective interactions within the extensively degenerate ground states of the clean system. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we find a spin glass transition at a temperature set by the disorder strength. Disorder of this type, which is generated by random str…
The results of ac and dc magnetic susceptibility isothermal magnetization and heat-capacity measurements as a function of temperature (T) are reported for Sr3NiRhO6 and Sr3NiPtO6 containing magnetic chains arranged in a triangular fashion in the basal plane and crystallizing in K4CdCl6-derived rhombohedral structure. The results establish that both the compounds are magnetically frustrated, however in different ways. In the case of the Rh compound, the susceptibility data reveal that there are two magnetic transitions, one in the range 10 -15 K and the other appearing as a smooth crossover nea…
Above 40K, the magnetic susceptibility of the heavy Fermion spinel LiV2O4 has many features in common with those of geometrically frustrated magnetic insulators, while its room temperature resistivity comfortably exceeds the Mott-Regel limit. This suggests that local magnetic moments, and the underlying geometry of the pyrochlore lattice, play an important role in determining its magnetic properties. We extend a recently introduced tetragonal mean field theory for insulating pyrochlore antiferromagnets to the case where individual tetrahedra contain spins of different lengths, and use this as …
Using muon-spin-relaxation measurements we show that the pyrochlore compound Gd2Ti2O7, in its magnetically orderered phase below ~ 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.
We report the observation of a Griffiths Phase in the geometrically frustrated antiferromagnet DyBaCo${_4}$O${_{7+δ}}$. Its onset is determined using measurements of the thermoremanent magnetization, which is shown to be superior to conventional in-field measurement protocols for the identification of the Griffiths Phase. Within this phase, the temporal relaxation of magnetization exhibits a functional form which is expected for Heisenberg systems, reflecting the nature of spin interactions in this class of materials. Interestingly, the effective Co${^{2+}}$/Co${^{3+}}$ ratio tailored by varyi…
We have successfully synthesized three quasi-2D geometrically frustrated magnetic compounds (α-MCr_2O_4, M=Ca, Sr, Ba) using the spark-plasma-sintering technique. All these members of the α-MCr_2O_4 family consist of the stacking planar triangular lattices of Cr$^{3+}$ spins (${\rm S}=3/2$), separated by non-magnetic alkaline earth ions. Their corresponding magnetic susceptibility, specific heat, dielectric permittivity and ferroelectric polarization are systematically investigated. A long-range magnetic ordering arises below the Néel temperature (around 40K) in each member of the α-MCr_2O_4 f…
We have formulated a twist operator argument for the geometrically frustrated quantum spin systems on the kagome and triangular lattices, thereby extending the application of the Lieb-Schultz-Mattis (LSM) and Oshikawa-Yamanaka-Affleck (OYA) theorems to these systems. The equivalent large gauge transformation for the geometrically frustrated lattice differs from that for non-frustrated systems due to the existence of multiple sublattices in the unit cell and non-orthogonal basis vectors. Our study for the $S=1/2$ kagome Heisenberg antiferromagnet at zero external magnetic field gives a criterio…
We present a comprehensive review of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies performed on three nanoscale molecular magnets with different configurations of geometrically frustrated antiferromagnetic (AFM) triangles, new spin frustration systems with different novel structures: (1) the isolated single AFM triangle K$_6$[V$_{15}$As$_6$O$_{42}$(H$_2$O)]$\cdot$8H$_2$O (in short V15), (2) the spin ball [Mo$_{72}$Fe$_{30}$O$_{252}$(Mo$_2$O$_7$(H$_2$O))$_2$ (Mo$_2$O$_8$H$_2$(H$_2$O))(CH$_3$COO)$_{12}$(H$_2$O)$_{91}$]$\cdot$150H$_2$O (in short Fe30 spin ball), and (3) the twisted triangular spin tub…
We investigate the doping of a geometrically frustrated spin ladder with static holes by a complementary approach using exact diagonalization and quantum dimers. Results for thermodynamic properties, the singlet density of states, the hole-binding energy and the spin correlations will be presented. For the undoped systems the ground state is non-degenerate, with translationally invariant nearest-neighbor spin correlations. In the doped case, we find that static holes polarize their vicinity by a localization of singlets in order to reduce the frustration. This polarization induces short range …
Magnetic excitations in the triangular-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet (TLHA) CuCrO2 were studied using single-crystal inelastic neutron scattering. A diffusive quasielastic component that persisted without developing a correlation length over a wide temperature range both below and above the ordering temperature was observed. Furthermore, characteristic momentum dependence was observed that was reproduced using minimum spin clusters. The robust spin clusters contrast with conventional magnetic ordering and may be universal in TLHAs.
By considering the constrained motion of classical spins in a geometrically frustrated magnet, we find a dynamical freezing temperature below which the system gets trapped in metastable states with a "frozen" moment and dynamical heterogeneities. The residual collective degrees of freedom are strongly correlated, and by spontaneously forming aggregates, they are unable to reorganize the system. The phase space is then fragmented in a macroscopic number of disconnected sectors (broken ergodicity), resulting in self-induced disorder and "thermodynamic" anomalies, measured by the loss of a finite…
In the pyrochlore compounds, Tb$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$ and Tb$_2$Sn$_2$O$_7$, only the Tb$^{3+}$ ions are magnetic. They exhibit quite abnormal -- and, in view of their chemical similarity, strikingly different -- magnetic behaviour, as probed by neutron diffraction at ambient and applied pressure. Tb$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$ is a cooperative paramagnet (`spin liquid'), without long range order at ambient pressure; however, it does become ordered under pressure. By contrast, Tb$_2$Sn$_2$O$_7$ enters an "ordered spin ice" state already at ambient pressure. We analyse a simple model which already clearly exhibits…
We investigate a (semi-)metal to insulator transition (MIT) realized in geometrically frustrated electron systems on the basis of the Hubbard model on a three-dimensional pyrochlore lattice and a two-dimensional checkerboard lattice. Using the renormalization group method and mean field analysis, we show that in the half-filling case, MIT occurs as a result of the interplay between geometrical frustration and electron correlation. In the insulating phase, which has a spin gap, the spin rotational symmetry is not broken, while charge ordering exists. The charge ordered state is stabilized so as…
Charge dynamics in an interacting fermionic model on a geometrically frustrated lattice are examined. We analyze a spinless fermion model on a paired triangular lattice, an electronic model for layered iron oxides, in zero and finite temperatures by the exact diagonalization methods. We focus on the two charge ordered (CO) phases, termed CO_1/2 and CO_1/3, which, respectively, are realized by the inter-site Coulomb interaction and the quantum/thermal fluctuations. The optical spectra in CO_1/3 show multiple components and their low-energy weights are survived even below the ordering temperatur…
We have measured the thermal conductivity of the geometrically frustrated quasi-onedimensional spin system Cu$_3$Mo$_2$O$_9$ in magnetic fields. A contribution of the thermal conductivity due to spins has been observed in the thermal conductivity along the spin chains. The thermal conductivity due to phonons, $κ_{\rm phonon}$, has been found to decrease by the application of a magnetic field, which has been explained as being due to the reduction in the spin gap originating from the spin-singlet dimers. Moreover, it has been found that $κ_{\rm phonon}$ increases with increasing field in high f…
We report neutron scattering studies of the spin correlations of the geometrically frustrated pyrochlore Tb2Mo2O7 using single crystal samples. This material undergoes a spin-freezing transition below Tg~24 K, similar to Y2Mo2O7, and has little apparent chemical disorder. Diffuse elastic peaks are observed at low temperatures, indicating short-range ordering of the Tb moments in an arrangement where the Tb moments are slightly rotated from the preferred directions of the spin ice structure. In addition, a Q-independent signal is observed which likely originates from frozen, but completely unco…
The layered FeTe2O5Cl compound was studied by specific-heat, muon spin relaxation, nuclear magnetic resonance, dielectric, as well as neutron and synchrotron x-ray diffraction measurements, and the results were compared to isostructural FeTe2O5Br. We find that the low-temperature ordered state, similarly as in FeTe2O5Br, is multiferroic - the elliptical amplitude-modulated magnetic cycloid and the electric polarization simultaneously develop below 11 K. However, compared to FeTe2O5Br, the magnetic elliptical envelop rotates by 75(4) deg and the orientation of the electric polarization is much …
We report single-crystal neutron diffraction studies on a spinel antiferromagnet GeCo$_2$O$_4$, which exhibits magnetic order with a trigonal propagation vector and tetragonal lattice expansion ($c/a\simeq1.001$) below $T_{\rm N}=21$ K. For this inconsistency between spin and lattice in symmetry, magnetic Bragg reflections with a tetragonal propagation vector were discovered below $T_{\rm N}$. We discuss spin and orbital states of Co$^{2+}$ ion underlying the new magnetic component.
Neutron diffraction and bulk measurements are used to determine the nature of the low-temperature ordered state in LiCu$_2$O$_2$, a $S=1/2$ spin-chain compound with competing interactions. The magnetic structure is found to be helimagnetic, with a propagation vector $(0.5,ζ,0)$, $ζ=0.174$. The nearest-neighbor exchange constant and frustration ratio are estimated to be $J=5.8$ meV and $J_2/J_1=0.29$, respectively. For idealized spin chains these parameter values would signify a gapped spin-liquid ground state. Long-range ordering is attributed to intrinsic non-stoichiometry.
Motivated by experiments on the double perovskites La2ZnIrO6 and La2MgIrO6, we study the magnetism of spin-orbit coupled j=1/2 iridium moments on the three-dimensional, geometrically frustrated, face-centered cubic lattice. The symmetry-allowed nearest-neighbor interaction includes Heisenberg, Kitaev, and symmetric off-diagonal exchange. A Luttinger-Tisza analysis shows a rich variety of orders, including collinear A-type antiferromagnetism, stripe order with moments along the [111]-direction, and incommensurate non-coplanar spirals, and we use Monte Carlo simulations to determine their magnet…
By using the density matrix renormalization group method, we investigate ground- and excited-state properties of the e_g-orbital degenerate Hubbard model at quarter filling for two kinds of lattices, zigzag chain and ladder. In the zigzag chain, the system is effectively regarded as a decoupled double chain of the S=1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model, and the spin gap is approximately zero, similar to the case of weakly coupled Heisenberg chains. On the other hand, in the ladder, the spin correlation on the rung remains robust and the spin gap exists.
We present the results of susceptibility χ(T) and magnetisation M(H) measurements performed on single crystal samples of the rare-earth oxides SrLn2O4 (Ln = Er, Dy and Ho). The measurements reveal the presence of magnetic ordering transition in SrHo2O4 at 0.62 K and confirm that SrEr2O4 orders magnetically at 0.73 K, while in SrDy2O4 such a transition is absent down to at least 0.5 K. The observed ordering temperatures are significantly lower than the Curie-Weiss temperatures, θ_{CW}, obtained from the high-temperature linear fits to the 1/χ(T) curves, which implies that these materials are su…
Structural and magnetic properties of the geometrically frustrated layered compound YBaCo4O7 have been studied by magnetization and neutron diffraction. A layered type crystal structure, with alternating tetrahedral layers of Kagomé and triangular types, along the c axis (hexagonal symmetry, space group P63mc) has been found. The oxygen content of the present compound was determined by iodometric titration to be 7.00{\pm}0.01. Presence of a short-range antiferromagnetic ordering (below TN ~ 110 K) has been concluded from the appearance of an addition broad magnetic peak (at Q ~ 1.35 Å-1) in th…
The spin ice system Dy$_{2}$Ti$_{2}$O$_{7}$ exhibits strong frequency-dependent spin-freezing at $\sim$ 16 K temperature. Although it has been a matter of discussion for years, the origin of this unusual spin freezing is still unknown. The replacement of Ti with isovalent Zr leads to the dynamic magnetic ground state at low temperatures in Dy$_{2}$Zr$_{2}$O$_{7}$ and prevents the formation of high-temperature spin freezing. Interestingly the high-temperature spin freezing re-emerges in the presence of the magnetic field. In this direction, we have studied a series of disordered pyrochlore oxid…
From the electrical resistivity and ac susceptibility measurements down to $T$ = 40 mK, a rich temperature-field phase diagram has been constructed for the geometrically frustrated heavy-fermion compound CePdAl. In the limit of zero temperature, the field-induced suppression of the antiferromagnetism in this compound results in a sequence of phase transitions/corssovers, rather than a single critical point, in a critical region of field 3$-$5 T. In the lowest temperature region, a power-law description of the temperature-dependent resistivity yields $A$$\cdot$$T^n$ with $n$$>$2 for all applied…
We present a detailed study of magnetism in LuFe2O4, combining magnetization measurements with neutron and soft x-ray diffraction. The magnetic phase diagram in the vicinity of T_N involves a metamagnetic transition separating an antiferro- and a ferrimagnetic phase. For both phases the spin structure is refined by neutron diffraction. Observed diffuse magnetic scattering far above T_N is explained in terms of near degeneracy of the magnetic phases.
In RBaCo4O7 (R = Ca, Y and Rare earth) cobaltite family, only CaBaCo4O7 shows 3D long range ferrimagnetic and spin driven electric polarization properties. In the present study, we have investigated the structural, magnetic and electric polarization properties in YBaCo4O7 and DyBaCo4O7 members of this family and the obtained results are compared with the CaBaCo4O7. The compound YBaCo4O7 showed a series of magnetic transitions in agreement with reported literature, additionally, a cluster glass behavior below 5 K is observed. Powder neutron diffraction studies on DyBaCo4O7 cobaltite showed an o…
The local atomic and magnetic structures of the compounds $A$MnO$_2$ ($A$ = Na, Cu), which realize a geometrically frustrated, spatially anisotropic triangular lattice of Mn spins, have been investigated by atomic and magnetic pair distribution function analysis of neutron total scattering data. Relief of frustration in CuMnO$_2$ is accompanied by a conventional cooperative symmetry-lowering lattice distortion driven by Néel order. In NaMnO$_2$, however, the distortion has a short-range nature. A cooperative interaction between the locally broken symmetry and short-range magnetic correlations …
We report synchrotron radiation diffraction and muon spin rotation (muSR) measurements on the frustrated pyrochlore magnet Tb2Ti2O7. The powder diffraction study of a crushed crystal fragment does not reveal any structural change down to 4 K. The muSR measurements performed at 20 mK on a mosaic of single crystals with an external magnetic field applied along a three-fold axis are consistent with published a.c. magnetic-susceptibility measurements at 16 mK. While an inflection point could be present around an internal field intensity slightly above 0.3 T, the data barely support the presence of…
The crystal structure of Ba4NbRu3O12 is based on triangular planes of elongated Ru3O12 trimers oriented perpendicular to the plane. We report that it is semiconducting, that its Weiss temperature and effective magnetic moment are -155 K and 2.59 μB/f.u. respectively, and that magnetic susceptibility and specific heat data indicate that it exhibits magnetic ordering near 4 K. The presence of a high density of low energy states is evidenced by a substantial Sommerfeld-like T-linear term (gamma = 31(2) mJ/mole-K^2) in the specific heat. Electronic structure calculations reveal that the electronic…
The dielectric behavior of the single crystals of the spin-chain system Ca3Co2O6, undergoing geometrically frustrated antiferromagnetic ordering below 25 K, has been investigated as a function of temperature and magnetic field (H) and compared with magnetization (M) behavior. The results provide evidence for anisotropic magnetodielectric (MDE) coupling in this compound. Ac susceptibility exhibits a strong frequency dependence for H parallel c with changes of this feature with the application of external dc magnetic field. No feature in ac susceptibility could be observed for H perpendicular c,…
