Spin dynamics and magnetic order in magnetically frustrated Tb2Sn2O7

Phys Rev Lett. 2006 Mar 31;96(12):127202. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.127202. Epub 2006 Mar 30.

Abstract

We report a study of the geometrically frustrated magnetic material Tb2Sn2O7 by the positive muon-spin relaxation technique. No signature of a static magnetically ordered state is detected while neutron magnetic reflections are observed in agreement with a published report. This is explained by the dynamical nature of the ground state of Tb2Sn2O7: the Tb3+ magnetic moment characteristic fluctuation time is approximately 10(-10) s. The strong effect of the magnetic field on the muon-spin-lattice relaxation rate at low fields indicates a large field-induced increase of the magnetic density of states of the collective excitations at low energy.