Collective magnetic state induced by charge disorder in the non-Kramers rare-earth pyrochlore Tb${}_2$ScNbO${}_7$

Abstract

Geometrical frustration, as in pyrochlore lattices made of corner-sharing tetrahedra, precludes the onset of conventional magnetic ordering, enabling the stabilization of fluctuating spin states at low temperature. Disorder is a subtle ingredient that can modify the nature of these exotic non-ordered phases. Here, we study the interplay between disorder and magnetic frustration in the new pyrochlore Tb${}_2$ScNbO${}_7$ where the non magnetic site presents a charge disorder Nb${}^{5+}$/Sc${}^{3+}$. Its quantification with sophisticated diffraction techniques (electrons, X-rays, neutrons) allows us to estimate the distribution of the splitting of the magnetic Tb${}^{3+}$ non-Kramers ground state doublets and to compare it with excitations measured in inelastic neutron scattering. Combining macroscopic and neutron scattering measurements, we show that a clear spin glass transition at 1 K stems out while retaining strong spin liquid correlations. Our results suggest that Tb${}_2$ScNbO${}_7$ stabilizes one of the novel disorder induced quantum spin liquid or topological glassy phases recently proposed theoretically.

Main text: 9 pages, 5 figures ; Supplemental Material: 6 pages, 7 figures

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Cited by in corpus (2)

• Evidence for spin liquid behavior in the frustrated three-dimensional $S=1/2$ Heisenberg garnet NaCa${}_2$Cu${}_2$(VO${}_4$)${}_3$
• Excitation spectrum and low-temperature magnetism in disordered defect-fluorite Ho2Zr2O7