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Far-from-equilibrium monopole dynamics in spin ice

Nature Physics volume 10, pages 135–139 (2014)Cite this article

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Abstract

Condensed matter in the low-temperature limit reveals exotic physics associated with unusual orders and excitations, with examples ranging from helium superfluidity1 to magnetic monopoles in spin ice2,3. The far-from-equilibrium physics of such low-temperature states may be even more exotic, yet to access it in the laboratory remains a challenge. Here we demonstrate a simple and robust technique—the ‘magnetothermal avalanche quench’—and its use in the controlled creation of non-equilibrium populations of magnetic monopoles in spin ice at millikelvin temperatures. These populations are found to exhibit spontaneous dynamical effects that typify far-from-equilibrium systems and yet are captured by simple models. Our method thus opens new directions in the study of far-from-equilibrium states in spin ice and other exotic magnets.

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Figure 1: The avalanche quench technique used to produce a residual population of monopoles in the spin ice Dy2Ti2O7.
Figure 2: Relaxation of the magnetization M versus time t.
Figure 3: Simulation of non-equilibrium effect.
Figure 4: Scaling of the relaxation.

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Acknowledgements

S.R.G. would like to acknowledge the support of the European Community—Research Infrastructures under the FP7 Capacities Specific Programme, MICROKELVIN project number 228464. M.J.J. was supported by the French ANR project CHIRnMAG.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut Néel, C.N.R.S—Université Joseph Fourier, BP 166, Grenoble 38042, France

    C. Paulsen, M. J. Jackson, E. Lhotel & B. Canals

  2. Physics Department, Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK

    D. Prabhakaran

  3. Kyushu Institute of Technology, Kitakyushu 804-8550, Japan

    K. Matsuhira

  4. School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 3AA, UK

    S. R. Giblin

  5. London Centre for Nanotechnology and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, 17–19 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AJ, UK

    S. T. Bramwell

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  1. C. Paulsen
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  4. B. Canals
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  8. S. T. Bramwell
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Contributions

Experiments were conceived and designed by C.P. and E.L. and performed by C.P., E.L., S.R.G. and M.J.J. The data were analysed by C.P., E.L., S.R.G., M.J.J., B.C. and S.T.B. Contributed materials and analysis tools were made by K.M., D.P. and B.C. The paper was written by S.T.B., C.P., E.L., S.R.G. and B.C. with feedback from all authors.

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Correspondence to C. Paulsen.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Paulsen, C., Jackson, M., Lhotel, E. et al. Far-from-equilibrium monopole dynamics in spin ice. Nature Phys 10, 135–139 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys2847

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