Abstract
Using as motivation, we investigate finite-field properties of pyrochlore antiferromagnets. In addition to a fluctuation-induced six-fold anisotropy present in zero field, an external magnetic field induces a combination of two-, three-, and six-fold clock terms as a function of its orientation, providing for rich and controllable magnetothermodynamics. For , we predict a phase transition in a weak magnetic field . Re-entrant transitions are also found for . We extend these results to the whole family the pyrochlore antiferromagnets and show that presence and number of low-field transitions for different orientations can be used for locating a given material in the parameter space of anisotropic pyrochlores. Finite-temperature classical Monte Carlo simulations serve to confirm and illustrate these analytic predictions.
- Received 29 September 2015
- Revised 4 March 2016
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.93.100406
©2016 American Physical Society