The importance of defects and structural flexibility in the physics of quantum spin ices

          @misc{ scivideos_PIRSA:17060033,
            doi = {10.48660/17060033},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/17060033},
            author = {McQueen, Tyrel},
            keywords = {Quantum Matter},
            language = {en},
            title = {The importance of defects and structural flexibility in the physics of quantum spin ices},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics},
            year = {2017},
            month = {jun},
            note = {PIRSA:17060033 see, \url{https://scivideos.org/pirsa/17060033}}
          }
          

Abstract

Harboring interpenetrating lattices of corner-sharing tetrahedra, materials with the pyrochlore structure type dominate exploration of the physics of quantum spin ices. Recent synthetic advances in the control of point defects, such as in Yb2Ti2O7 and Pr2Zr2O, have demonstrated that even sub-percent changes in the type and/or number of defects radically modulates the low temperature physics of these materials. This sensitivity to disorder is driven not only by the geometrically frustrated nature of the lattice, but also by the propensity of a corner sharing tetrahedral framework to undergo displacive motions, in a manner analogous to that of beta-crystabolite (quartz), either statically, or dynamically (as soft phonons). An outlook for continued improvements in our ability to control the chemistry behind quantum spin ices will also be presented.