Gapless quantum excitations from an Ice-like Splayed Ferromagnetic ground state in stoichiometric Yb2Ti2O7

TL;DR

This study reveals that stoichiometric Yb2Ti2O7 exhibits gapless, continuum magnetic excitations characteristic of an ice-like splayed ferromagnetic ground state, robust against weak disorder, contrasting with conventional spin wave predictions.

Contribution

It demonstrates the presence of gapless, continuum spin excitations in stoichiometric Yb2Ti2O7, challenging traditional magnetic models and highlighting a novel quantum magnetic state.

Findings

Magnetic structure is an ice-like splayed ferromagnet.

Spin excitations are gapless below 0.09 meV.

Excitations are robust to weak disorder and resemble those in related compounds.

Abstract

The ground state of the quantum spin ice candidate magnet Yb2Ti2O7 is known to be sensitive to weak disorder at the 1 percent level which occurs in single crystals grown from the melt. Powders produced by solid state synthesis tend to be stoichiometric and display large and sharp heat capacity anomalies at relatively high temperatures, with Tc about 0.26 K. We have carried out neutron elastic and inelastic measurements on well characterized and equilibrated stoichiometric powder samples of Yb2Ti2O7 which show resolution-limited Bragg peaks to appear at low temperatures, but whose onset correlates with temperatures much higher than Tc. The corresponding magnetic structure is best described as an ice-like splayed ferromagnet. The spin dynamics in Yb2Ti2O7 are shown to be gapless on an energy scale smaller than 0.09 meV at all temperatures, and organized into a continuum of scattering with vestiges of highly overdamped ferromagnetic spin waves present. These excitations differ greatly from conventional spin waves predicted for Yb2Ti2O7 s mean field ordered state, but appear robust to weak disorder as they are largely consistent with those displayed by non stoichiometric crushed single crystals and single crystals, as well as by powder samples of Yb2Ti2O7 s sister quantum magnet Yb2Sn2O7.