Kagomé ice state in the dipolar spin ice Dy_{2}Ti_{2}O_{7}

Abstract

We have investigated the kagomé ice behavior of the dipolar spin-ice compound Dy_{2}Ti_{2}O_{7} in magnetic field along a [111] direction using neutron scattering and Monte Carlo simulations. The spin correlations show that the kagomé ice behavior predicted for the nearest-neighbor (NN) interacting model, where the field induces dimensional reduction and spins are frustrated in each two-dimensional kagomé lattice, occurs in the dipole interacting system. The spins freeze at low temperatures within the macroscopically degenerate ground states of the NN model.