2002/01/11 by J.A. Hodges, J. A. Hodges, P. Bonville +17 · 180 citations
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Anisotropy #Atmospheric temperature range #Condensed matter physics #Diffraction #Multiferroics and related materials #Muon spin spectroscopy #Neutron diffraction #Nuclear materials and radiation effects #Order (exchange) #Physics #Pyrochlore #Quantum mechanics #Relaxation (psychology) #Spin (aerodynamics) #Spins #Thermodynamics #cond-mat.str-el
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.88.077204
published in Physical Review Letters 88(7), 077204 (American Physical Society) · 4 pages, 4 postscript figures (one double with 2 ps files)
arxiv created 2002/01/11 · openalex publication_date 2002/02/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · arxiv updated 2016/08/31 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Using neutron diffraction, 170Yb M"ossbauer and muon spin relaxation spectroscopies, we have examined the pyrochlore Yb2Ti2O7, where the Yb3+S^\ensuremath'\phantom\rule0ex0ex=\phantom\rule0ex0ex1/2 ground state has planar anisotropy. Below \ensuremath∼0.24K, the temperature of the known specific-heat \ensuremathλ transition, there is no long range magnetic order. We show that the transition corresponds to a first-order change in the fluctuation rate of the Yb3+ spins. Above the transition temperature, the rate, in the GHz range, follows a thermal excitation law, whereas below, the rate, in the MHz range, is temperature independent, indicative of a quantum fluctuation regime.