Magnetic Ground States of the Rare-Earth Tripod Kagome Lattice ${\mathrm{Mg}}_{2}{\mathrm{RE}}_{3}{\mathrm{Sb}}_{3}{\mathrm{O}}_{14}$ ($\mathrm{RE}=\mathrm{Gd},\mathrm{Dy},\mathrm{Er}$)

Editors' Suggestion

Magnetic Ground States of the Rare-Earth Tripod Kagome Lattice ${Mg}_{2} {RE}_{3} {Sb}_{3} O_{14}$ ( $RE = Gd, Dy, Er$ )

Z. L. Dun, J. Trinh, K. Li, M. Lee, K. W. Chen, R. Baumbach, Y. F. Hu, Y. X. Wang, E. S. Choi, B. S. Shastry, A. P. Ramirez, and H. D. Zhou

Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 157201 – Published 12 April 2016

Abstract

We present the structural and magnetic properties of a new compound family, ${Mg}_{2} {RE}_{3} {Sb}_{3} O_{14}$ ( $RE = Gd, Dy, Er$ ), with a hitherto unstudied frustrating lattice, the “tripod kagome" structure. Susceptibility (ac, dc) and specific heat exhibit features that are understood within a simple Luttinger-Tisza-type theory. For $RE = Gd$ , we found long-ranged order (LRO) at 1.65 K, which is consistent with a 120° structure, demonstrating the importance of diople interactions for this 2D Heisenberg system. For $RE = Dy$ , LRO at 0.37 K is related to the “kagome spin ice” physics for a 2D system. This result shows that the tripod kagome structure accelerates the transition to LRO predicted for the related pyrochlore systems. For $RE = Er$ , two transitions, at 80 mK and 2.1 K are observed, suggesting the importance of quantum fluctuations for this putative $X Y$ system.

Received 8 January 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.157201

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Frustrated magnetism Spin ice

Oxides

Kagome lattice Specific heat measurements Susceptibility measurements

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Z. L. Dun¹, J. Trinh², K. Li^3,4, M. Lee^5,6, K. W. Chen⁶, R. Baumbach⁶, Y. F. Hu³, Y. X. Wang³, E. S. Choi⁶, B. S. Shastry², A. P. Ramirez², and H. D. Zhou^1,6

¹Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-1200, USA
²Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA
³Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Materials Chemistry and Applications, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People’s Republic of China
⁴Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced Research, Beijing 100094, People’s Republic of China
⁵Department of Physics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306-3016, USA
⁶National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32310-3706, USA