Magnetization plateaus in generalized Shastry-Sutherland models

Abstract

We study an anisotropic Heisenberg antiferromagnet with ferromagnetic transverse spin exchange using exact quantum Monte Carlo methods. Such a model is relevant to a class of rare earth tetraboride materials that display a range of magnetization plateaus under applied magnetic field. The layered arrangement of magnetic ions in these materials is topologically equivalent to the Shastry-Sutherland lattice. In this frustrated geometry, we study the interplay of next-nearest neighbor interactions in stabilizing a plateau at half the saturation magnetization (or 1/2 plateau). We also show hysteresis-like behavior at the onset of the 1/3 plateau.