Spin Jam Induced by Quantum Fluctuations in a Frustrated Magnet

Published

September 15, 2015

Author(s)

Junjie Yang, Anjana Samarakoon, Sachith Dissanayake, Hiroaki Ueda, Israel Klich, Daniel M Pajerowski, Nicholas Butch, Qingzhen Huang, John R. Copley, Seung-Hun Lee

Abstract

Since the discovery of spin glasses in dilute magnetic systems, their study has been largely focused on understanding randomness and defects as the driving mechanisms. However, it has been theoretically suggested that different mechanism. However, it has been theoretically suggested that different mechanisms, such as quantum fluctuations and topological aspects, may induce glassy states in defect-free spin systems, far from the conventional dilute limit. Here we report experimental evidence for existence of a glassy state, that we call a spin jam, in the vicinity of the clean limit of a frustrated magnet, which is insensitive to a low concentration of defects. We have studied the effect of impurities on SrCr_9PGa_12-9pO₁₉ (SCGO(p)) in which the magnetic Cr³⁺ (s=3/2) ions form a quasi-two-dimensional triangular system of bi-pyramids. Our experimental data shows that as the nonmagnetic Ga³⁺ impurity concentration is changed, there are two distinct phases of glassiness: a distinct exotic glassy state, which we call a "spin jam", for high magnetic concentration, (p>0.8) and a conventional spin glass for lower magnetic concentration, (p<0.8). This observation indicates that a spin jam is unique vantage point from which the class of glassy states in frustrated magnets where the spins are densely packed can be understood.

Citation

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Volume

112

Issue

37

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

Spin jam, Frustration, SCGO, spin glass, neutron scattering

Citation

Yang, J. , Samarakoon, A. , Dissanayake, S. , Ueda, H. , Klich, I. , Pajerowski, D. , Butch, N. , Huang, Q. , Copley, J. and Lee, S. (2015), Spin Jam Induced by Quantum Fluctuations in a Frustrated Magnet, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=917556 (Accessed October 17, 2025)