Two-stage ordering of spins in a dipolar spin ice on the kagome lattice

TL;DR

This paper investigates the ordering process of spins in a two-dimensional dipolar spin ice on the kagome lattice, revealing a two-stage transition with distinct intermediate and low-temperature phases through analytical and simulation methods.

Contribution

It introduces a novel two-stage ordering mechanism in kagome spin ice, combining analytical and Monte Carlo approaches to identify phase transitions.

Findings

Identification of an intermediate phase with ordered magnetic charges

Discovery of a two-stage phase transition process

Characterization of the transition types as Ising and Potts or Kosterlitz-Thouless

Abstract

Spin ice, a peculiar thermal state of a frustrated ferromagnet on the pyrochlore lattice, has a finite entropy density and excitations carrying magnetic charge. By combining analytical arguments and Monte Carlo simulations, we show that spin ice on the two-dimensional kagome lattice orders in two stages. The intermediate phase has ordered magnetic charges and is separated from the paramagnetic phase by an Ising transition. The transition to the low-temperature phase is of the three-state Potts or Kosterlitz-Thouless type, depending on the presence of defects in charge order.