Proposal for a [111] Magnetization Plateau in the Spin Liquid State of Tb2Ti2O7

Abstract

Despite a Curie-Weiss temperature $\theta_{\rm CW} \sim -14$ K, the Tb2Ti2O7 pyrochlore magnetic material lacks long range magnetic order down to at least $T^*\approx 50$ mK. It has recently been proposed that the low temperature collective paramagnetic or spin liquid regime of this material may be akin to a spin ice state subject to both thermal and quantum fluctuations $-$ a {\it quantum spin ice} (QSI) of sorts. Here we explore the effect of a magnetic field ${\bm B}$ along the $[111]$ direction on the QSI state. To do so, we investigate the magnetic properties of a microscopic model of Tb2Ti2O7 in an independent tetrahedron approximation in a finite ${\bm B}$ along $[111]$. Such a model describes semi-quantitatively the collective paramagnetic regime where nontrivial spin correlations start to develop at the shortest lengthscale, that is over a single tetrahedron, but where no long range order is yet present. Our results show that a magnetization plateau develops at low temperatures as the system develops ${\bm B}=0$ ferromagnetic spin-ice-like "two-in/two-out" correlations at the shortest lengthscale. From these results, we are led to propose that the observation of such a [111] magnetization plateau in Tb2Ti2O7 would provide compelling evidence for a QSI at ${\bm B}=0$ in this material and help guide the development of a theory for the origin of its spin liquid state.