Nuclear spin assisted quantum tunnelling of magnetic monopoles in spin ice

Abstract

Extensive work on single molecule magnets has identified a fundamental mode of relaxation arising from the nuclear-spin assisted quantum tunnelling of nearly independent and quasi-classical magnetic dipoles. Here we show that nuclear-spin assisted quantum tunnelling can also control the dynamics of purely emergent excitations: magnetic monopoles in spin ice. Our low temperature experiments were conducted on canonical spin ice materials with a broad range of nuclear spin values. By measuring the magnetic relaxation, or monopole current, we demonstrate strong evidence that dynamical coupling with the hyperfine fields bring the electronic spins associated with magnetic monopoles to resonance, allowing the monopoles to hop and transport magnetic charge. Our result shows how the coupling of electronic spins with nuclear spins may be used to control the monopole current. It broadens the relevance of the assisted quantum tunnelling mechanism from single molecular spins to emergent excitations in a strongly correlated system.

arXiv comment9 pages, 4 figures + supp. information. Accepted in Nature Communications

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Cited by in corpus (9)

• Quantum versus Classical Spin Fragmentation in Dipolar Kagome Ice Ho3Mg2Sb3O14
• Anomalous magnetic noise in imperfect flat bands in the topological magnet Dy2Ti2O7
• Monopolar and dipolar relaxation in spin ice Ho${}_2$Ti${}_2$O${}_7$
• Violation of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem and effective temperatures in spin ice
• Screening and the Pinch Point Paradox in Spin Ice
• Dichotomous Dynamics of Magnetic Monopole Fluids
• Extremely slow non-equilibrium monopole dynamics in classical spin ice
• Proximal quantum control of spin and spin ensemble with highly localized control field from skyrmions
• Low-temperature high-frequency dynamic magnetic susceptibility of classical spin-ice Dy${}_2$Ti${}_2$O${}_7$