Statics and dynamics of the highly correlated spin ice Ho$_2$Ge$_2$O$_7$

摘要: The pyrochlore HoGeO is a new highly correlated spin ice material. Physical property measurements, including x-ray diffraction, dc susceptibility, and ac susceptibility, confirm that it shares the distinctive characteristics of other known spin ices. Polarized neutron scattering measurements on a powder sample, combined with reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) refinements, give unique information about the spin ice state in HoGeO. RMC refinements are used to fit the powder magnetic diffuse scattering and predict the single-crystal magnetic scattering of HoGeO, demonstrating consistency with spin ice behavior.