Pyrochlore antiferromagnet CdYb2Se4 studied by neutron scattering*

The geometrically frustrated pyrochlore lattice with exotic magnetic behavior is well established in titanates R2Ti2O7 (R= rare earth) [1]. Spinel compounds AR2X4 with R-ions also residing on the pyrochlore lattice similarly exhibit unconventional magnetism [2, 3]. The basic distinction between the two families is the local environment of the rare earth ions [4, 5]. Here, we present a neutron scattering study of the crystal electric field (CEF), magnetic ground state, and spin dynamics of CdYb2Se4.
Extending recent studies on CdYb2Se4 [2, 4], our results give deeper insight into the CEF scheme and k=0 magnetic ground state. Additionally, we observed low energy spin excitations evolving with temperature and magnetic field. This grants a possibility to identify the exchange Hamiltonian of this frustrated antiferromagnet with strong quantum character.
[1] J. S. Gardner et al., Rev Mod Phys 82 (2010) [2] P. Dalmas de Reotier et al., PRB 96, (2017) [3] J. Lago et al., PRL 104, (2010) [4] T. Higo et al., PRB 95 (2017) [5] G. C. Lau, et al., PRB 72 (2005).