Phonon and crystal field excitations in geometrically frustrated rare earth titanates

TL;DR

This study investigates phonon and crystal field excitations in rare earth titanate pyrochlores using spectroscopy and magnetic measurements, revealing new excitations, symmetry breaking, and coupling effects that challenge existing structural models.

Contribution

It provides the first Raman observation of several crystal field excitations in Tb2Ti2O7 and uncovers evidence of symmetry breaking and crystal field-phonon coupling.

Findings

First Raman detection of multiple crystal field excitations in Tb2Ti2O7.

Evidence of broken inversion symmetry in Tb2Ti2O7.

Significant crystal field-phonon coupling observed in Tb2Ti2O7.

Abstract

The phonon and crystal field excitations in several rare earth titanate pyrochlores are investigated. Magnetic measurements on single crystals of Gd2Ti2O7, Tb2Ti2O7, Dy2Ti2O7 and Ho2Ti2O7 are used for characterization, while Raman spectroscopy and terahertz time domain spectroscopy are employed to probe the excitations of the materials. The lattice excitations are found to be analogous across the compounds over the whole temperature range investigated (295-4 K). The resulting full phononic characterization of the R2Ti2O7 pyrochlore structure is then used to identify crystal field excitations observed in the materials. Several crystal field excitations have been observed in Tb2Ti2O7 in Raman spectroscopy for the first time, among which all of the previously reported excitations. The presence of additional crystal field excitations, however, suggests the presence of two inequivalent Tb3+ sites in the low temperature structure. Furthermore, the crystal field level at approximately 13 cm-1 is found to be both Raman and dipole active, indicating broken inversion symmetry in the system and thus undermining its current symmetry interpretation. In addition, evidence is found for a significant crystal field-phonon coupling in Tb2Ti2O7. These findings call for a careful reassessment of the low temperature structure of Tb2Ti2O7, which may serve to improve its theoretical understanding.