Large thermal Hall conductivity of neutral spin excitations in a frustrated quantum magnet
Abstract
To minimize their energy, materials with magnetic interactions tend to become ordered at low temperatures. However, if the magnetism is frustrated (for example, if the geometry of the crystal lattice gets in the way of minimizing the energy), the material may not reach an ordered state even at very low temperatures. Hirschberger et al. studied the excitations of such a system—the pyrochlore compound Tb 2 Ti 2 O 7 —using thermal transport measurements. Thermal conductivity at very low temperatures resembled that of a disordered metal; a puzzling finding in an electrically insulating transparent material.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Apr 03, 2015
- Source ID
- 10.1126/science.1257340
Entities
People
- Jason W. Krizan
- Max Hirschberger
- N. P. Ong
- R. J. Cava
Organizations
- Army Research Office
- National Science Foundation
- Princeton University