Planar XY magnetic glass state in the Gd2ScNbO7 pyrochlore

• Published in: Journal of physics. Condensed matter 2024-09, Vol.36 (50)
• Main Authors: Mauws, C, Beare, J, Rutherford, M R, Su, Y, Sharma, S, Nugent, M, Lee, M K, Chang, L J, Dunsiger, S R, Gardner, J S, Luke, G M, Wiebe, C R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; frustration; heat capacity; muon spin relaxation; neutron scattering; pyrochlore; spin glass
• ISSN: 0953-8984; 1361-648X
• DOI: 10.1088/1361-648X/ad7771

Here a spin glass system with emergent planar ordered spin clusters is investigated. The mixed B-site pyrochlore Gd2ScNbO7 has been synthesized and characterized through a variety of techniques, including x-ray diffraction, magnetic susceptibility, muon spin relaxation, heat capacity and neutron scattering. Despite a Curie–Weiss temperature of -3.93(3) K, indicating net antiferromagnetic interactions, no signs of long ranged magnetic ordering are found down to T = 0.3 K. Instead, a disordered magnetic state emerges with a small correlation length of 2.1(1) Å of single tetrahedra. A Reverse Monte Carlo analysis of the polarized neutron scattering data reveals short-range antiferromagnetic order with emergent XY spin ordering similar to the parent pyrochlore compounds. Muon spin relaxation, and AC susceptibility measurements confirm that the magnetization condenses into a glass, with 10 % of the potential entropy missing in the specific heat. This magnetic ground state is similar to what is observed in Gd2Sn2O7 just above the ordering temperature, without the eventual long-range ordering at low temperature.