Frustration-induced Dodecamer Ordering in the Double-Exchange Spin Ice Model on the Kagomé Lattice

Abstract

We investigate a detail of a dodecamer cluster ordering in a double-exchange spin ice model on a kagomé lattice. In frustrated systems, ordinary spin orderings are suppressed and macroscopic degeneracy remains down to low temperatures. In some frustrated systems, the degeneracy is lifted due to residual interactions and cluster orderings are stabilized. In the present model, the spin ice state is first formed at intermediate temperatures, and further entropies are released at lower temperatures as the dodecamer phase emerges. Since the spin symmetry is not broken in the dodecamer phase, there still exists macroscopic degeneracy. At further low temperatures, a possible spin ordering due to inter-dodecamer interactions is proposed. We discuss that such a multiple-site clustering larger than a bond-pair might be generic to frustrated systems where macroscopic degeneracy is lifted by residual interactions.