Spin-phonon induced magnetic order in Kagome ice

TL;DR

This paper investigates how lattice deformations influence magnetic order in Kagome ice, revealing complex magnetization plateaus through simulations that incorporate spin-lattice coupling effects.

Contribution

It introduces a model that accounts for lattice deformations in Kagome ice and demonstrates their impact on magnetic properties using classical Monte Carlo simulations.

Findings

Emergence of rich magnetization plateau structures with increased lattice deformation

Effective quadratic spin interactions arise from lattice degrees of freedom

Magnetization behavior depends on magnetic field direction and lattice effects

Abstract

We study the effects of lattice deformations on the Kagome spin ice, with Ising spins coupled by nearest neighbor exchange and long range dipolar interactions, in the presence of in-plane magnetic fields. We describe the lattice energy according to the Einstein model, where each site distortion is treated independently. Upon integration of lattice degrees of freedom, effective quadratic spin interactions arise. Classical MonteCarlo simulations are performed on the resulting model, retaining up to third neighbor interactions, under different directions of the magnetic field. We find that, as the effect of the deformation is increased, a rich plateau structure appears in the magnetization curves.