Wen J-J, Koohpayeh S M, Ross K A, Trump B A, McQueen T M, Kimura K, Nakatsuji S, Qiu Y, Pajerowski D M, Copley J R D, Broholm C L
Institute for Quantum Matter and Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA.
Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
Phys Rev Lett. 2017 Mar 10;118(10):107206. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.107206. Epub 2017 Mar 8.
Inelastic neutron scattering reveals a broad continuum of excitations in Pr_{2}Zr_{2}O_{7}, the temperature and magnetic field dependence of which indicate a continuous distribution of quenched transverse fields (Δ) acting on the non-Kramers Pr^{3+} crystal field ground state doublets. Spin-ice correlations are apparent within 0.2 meV of the Zeeman energy. A random phase approximation provides an excellent account of the data with a transverse field distribution ρ(Δ)∝(Δ^{2}+Γ^{2})^{-1}, where Γ=0.27(1) meV. Established during high temperature synthesis due to an underlying structural instability, it appears disorder in Pr_{2}Zr_{2}O_{7} actually induces a quantum spin liquid.
非弹性中子散射揭示了Pr₂Zr₂O₇中存在广泛的激发连续体，其温度和磁场依赖性表明作用于非克莱默斯Pr³⁺晶体场基态双重态的淬灭横向场（Δ）呈连续分布。在塞曼能量的0.2毫电子伏范围内，自旋冰相关性明显。随机相位近似能很好地解释数据，横向场分布为ρ(Δ)∝(Δ² + Γ²)⁻¹，其中Γ = 0.27(1)毫电子伏。由于潜在的结构不稳定性，在高温合成过程中形成，Pr₂Zr₂O₇中的无序实际上似乎诱导了一种量子自旋液体。
