Neutron Scattering Study on the Spin Disordered Ground State in the Pyrochlore Antiferromagnet Ce<sub>2</sub>Zr<sub>2</sub>O<sub>7</sub>

ORAL

Abstract

The pyrochlore antiferromagnet Ce2Zr2O7 is sensitive to an instability of the Ce3+ oxidation state, whereby the 4f1 electronic configuration of Ce3+ can be diluted via sample oxidation and the concomitant introduction of Ce4+ to the lattice.1 For that reason, reduction of Ce2Zr2O7 samples is required to enable a neutron scattering study of this material, the subject of this presentation. The spins in Ce2Zr2O7 possess a local Ising anisotropy and interact via an antiferromagnetic coupling, which typically results in all-in all-out antiferromagnetic order. However the crystal electric field (CEF) wavefunctions of the Ce3+ ground state can have a dipole-octupole nature which is an ingredient for moment fragmentation and can allow for a disordered U(1) quantum spin liquid ground state.2 High energy neutron spectroscopy confirms the dipole-octupole CEF ground state, and higher energy resolution inelastic neutron scattering shows a disordered ground state for Ce2Zr2O7.

1. S. Urban et al., Chem. Mater. 29 (21) (2017) 9218-9226
2. Y.D. Li et al., Phys. Rev. B 95 (4) 041106(R) (2017)

*We acknowledge the support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
Measurements at LANL were supported by the US DOE, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering.

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Presenters

  • Evan Smith

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4M1
    • McMaster University
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University
    • Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University

Authors

  • Evan Smith

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4M1
    • McMaster University
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University
    • Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University

  • Jonathan Gaudet

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University
    • Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, Institute for Quantum Matter and Department of Physics and Astronomy
    • Johns Hopkins University
    • Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University
    • IQM, Johns Hopkins University

  • Jérémi Dudemaine

    • Département de Physique, Université de Montréal

  • Casey Marjerrison

    • Department of Physics, Duke University
    • Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University
    • Duke University

  • Andrea Bianchi

    • Département de Physique, Université de Montréal
    • Universite de Montreal

  • Connor Buhariwalla

    • McMaster University
    • Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University

  • Michael Nicklas

    • Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids
    • Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Nöthnitzer Str. 40 D-01187 Dresden, Germany

  • Roman Movshovich

    • Los Alamos National Laboratory
    • Condensed Matter and Magnet Sciences, Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Nicholas Butch

    • NIST Center for Neutron Research
    • Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • NIST
    • NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • National Institute of Standards and Technology
    • University of Maryland, College Park & NIST

  • Matthew Brandon Stone

    • Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
    • Oak Ridge National Laboratory
    • Oak Ridge National Lab
    • Spallation Neutron Source, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

  • Bruce Gaulin

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University
    • McMaster University
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4M1
    • Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University