2001/01/31 by S. T. Bramwell, M. J. Harris, Mark Harris +12 · 2 citations
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Multiferroics and related materials #Nuclear materials and radiation effects #cond-mat.dis-nn
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.87.047205
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. {87}, 047205 (2001) · 1 Color POSTSCRIPT figures included. 1 BW POSTSCRIPT figure included Submitted to Physical Review Letters Contact: [email protected] This version corrects for an incomplete version accidentally submitted the first time
arxiv created 2001/03/08 · openalex publication_date 2001/07/10 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
The pyrochlore material Ho2Ti2O7 has been suggested to show ``spin ice'' behavior. We present neutron scattering and specific heat results that establish unambiguously that Ho2Ti2O7 exhibits spin ice correlations at low temperature. Diffuse magnetic neutron scattering is quite well described by a nearest neighbor spin ice model and very accurately described by a dipolar spin ice model. The heat capacity is well accounted for by the sum of a dipolar spin ice contribution and an expected nuclear spin contribution, known to exist in other Ho3+ salts. These results settle the question of the nature of the low temperature spin correlations in Ho2Ti2O7 for which contradictory claims have been made.