2014/04/30 by Alannah M. Hallas, A. M. Hallas, Jinguang Cheng +16 · 1 citation
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Magnetic and transport properties of perovskites and related materials #Multiferroics and related materials #cond-mat.str-el
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.113.267205
published as PRL 113 267205 (2014) · 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in PRL
arxiv created 2014/12/03 · openalex publication_date 2014/12/31 · arxiv updated 2015/01/16 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
After nearly 20 years of study, the origin of the spin-liquid state in Tb2Ti2O7 remains a challenge for experimentalists and theorists alike. To improve our understanding of the exotic magnetism in Tb2Ti2O7, we synthesize a chemical pressure analog: Tb2Ge2O7. Substitution of titanium by germanium results in a lattice contraction and enhanced exchange interactions. We characterize the magnetic ground state of Tb2Ge2O7 with specific heat, ac and dc magnetic susceptibility, and polarized neutron scattering measurements. Akin to Tb2Ti2O7, there is no long-range order in Tb2Ge2O7 down to 20 mK. The Weiss temperature of \ensuremath-19.2(1) K, which is more negative than that of Tb2Ti2O7, supports the picture of stronger antiferromagnetic exchange. Polarized neutron scattering of Tb2Ge2O7 reveals that liquidlike correlations dominate in this system at 3.5 K. However, below 1 K, the liquidlike correlations give way to intense short-range ferromagnetic correlations with a length scale similar to the Tb-Tb nearest neighbor distance. Despite stronger antiferromagnetic exchange, the ground state of Tb2Ge2O7 has ferromagnetic character, in stark contrast to the pressure-induced antiferromagnetic order observed in Tb2Ti2O7.