Abstract
We report high resolution single crystal x-ray diffraction measurements of the frustrated pyrochlore magnet , collected using a novel low temperature pulsed magnet system. This instrument allows characterization of structural degrees of freedom to temperatures as low as 4.4 K, and in applied magnetic fields as large as 30 T. We show that manifests intriguing structural effects under the application of magnetic fields, including strongly anisotropic giant magnetostriction, a restoration of perfect pyrochlore symmetry in low magnetic fields, and ultimately a structural phase transition in high magnetic fields. It is suggested that the magnetoelastic coupling thus revealed plays a significant role in the spin liquid physics of at low temperatures.
- Received 14 June 2010
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.077203
© 2010 The American Physical Society