CPM Seminar

Studying Monopoles in Spin Ice at Ultra Low Temperatures

Jan Kycia

University of Waterloo

Some time ago (1999) a magnetic material, Dy₂Ti₂O₇, was shown to be a magnetic analog of water ice, and thus dubbed “spin ice&rquo;. Recently, theories and experiments have developed the fascinating perspective of viewing excitations within the low temperature phase of this spin ice as monopoles. I will discuss my group's results of specific heat, ac susceptibility and magnetization measurements. Our experiment provides an example of how ultralow temperature measurement techniques can be customized to study novel states of materials.