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Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 237201 (2008) [4 pages]

Static Magnetic Order in Tb2Sn2O7 Revealed by Muon Spin Relaxation with Exterior Muon Implantation

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S. R. Giblin1,*, J. D. M. Champion1, H. D. Zhou2, C. R. Wiebe2, J. S. Gardner3, I. Terry4, S. Calder5, T. Fennell5,†, and S. T. Bramwell5
1ISIS Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon, OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
2Department of Physics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, 32306-4005, USA and National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, 32306-4005, USA
3NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-6102, USA and Indiana University, 2401 Milo B. Sampson Lane, Bloomington, Indiana 47408-1398, USA
4Physics Department, University of Durham, Durham, DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
5London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, 17-19 Gordon Street, WC1H 0AH, United Kingdom

Received 16 September 2008; revised 16 October 2008; published 1 December 2008

See accompanying Physics Synopsis

Tb2Sn2O7 has been proposed as an ordered spin ice, but the precise nature of the low temperature magnetic state remains uncertain. Recent independent muon spin relaxation (μSR) investigations suggest the possibility of exotic ground states with static order precluded on time scales longer than 10-6  s. Here the more conventional hypothesis of canted ferromagnetism is tested by means of μSR with the muons stopped outside the sample, as well as ultralow field bulk magnetization measurements. The field cooled state shows conventional static order, while the zero field cooled state may be interpreted in terms of conventional closed domains. These results rule out purely dynamical ground states and illustrate the value of exterior muon implantation as a complement to the conventional technique.

© 2008 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.237201
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.237201
PACS:
75.10.Nr, 75.40.Cx, 76.75.+i

*sean.giblin@rl.ac.uk

†Institut Laue Langevin, BP156 6 rue Jules Horowitz, 38042, Grenoble Cedex 9, France.

 
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