Direct evidence for a dynamical ground state in the highly frustrated Tb$_2$Sn$_2$O$_7$ pyrochlore


Abstract in English

MuSR experiments have been performed on powder sample of the ordered spin ice Tb$_2$Sn$_2$O$_7$ pyrochlore compound. At base temperature (T=35mK) the muon relaxation is found to be of dynamical nature which demonstrates that strong fluctuations persist below the ferromagnetic transition (T_C=0.87K). Hints of long range order appear as oscillations of the muon polarization when an external field is applied and also as a hysteretic behavior below T_C. We propose a dynamical and strongly correlated scenario where dynamics results from fluctuation of large spin clusters with the ordered spin ice structure.

Download