Magnetic and Neutron Studies of New Yb- and Nd-based Shastry-Sutherland Compounds

In the study of frustrated magnetism, the Shastry-Sutherland lattice (SSL), an arrangement of orthogonal dimers with competing interactions J and J' between and within the dimers, represents one of the few exactly solvable structures. The SSL ground state is known when the ratio J'/J is small and large, but the states of the intermediate values are still unclear. We have recently begun synthesis and characterization of a new family of rare-earth based SSL compounds. We have successfully grown large single crystals using the optical floating zone technique and have performed magnetic and thermal characterization measurements. We have also performed neutron scattering measurements on these samples. In this talk we will present our recent experimental efforts obtained for the Yb- and Nd-based compounds belonging to this new SSL system.