Unreachable glass transition in dilute dipolar magnet

Tuning high-Q nonlinear dynamics in a disordered quantum magnet

Quantum states cohere and interfere. Atoms arranged imperfectly in a solid rarely display these properties. Here we demonstrate an exception in a disordered quantum magnet that divides itself into nearly isolated subsystems. We probe these coherent spin clusters by driving the system nonlinearly and measuring the resulting hole in the linear spectral response. The Fano shape of the hole encodes the incoherent lifetime as well as coherent mixing of the localized excitations. For the Ising magnet LiHo0.045Y0.955F4, the quality factor Q for spectral holes can be as high as 100,000. We tune the dynamics by sweeping the Fano mixing parameter q through zero via the ac pump amplitude as well as a dc transverse field. The zero crossing of q is associated with a dissipationless response at the drive frequency. Identifying localized two-level systems in a dense and disordered magnet advances the search for qubit platforms emerging from strongly interacting, many-body systems.

Vacancy defects and monopole dynamics in oxygen-deficient pyrochlores

The idea of magnetic monopoles in spin ice has enjoyed much success at intermediate temperatures, but at low temperatures a description in terms of monopole dynamics alone is insufficient. Recently, numerical simulations were used to argue that magnetic impurities account for this discrepancy by introducing a magnetic equivalent of residual resistance in the system. Here we propose that oxygen deficiency is the leading cause of magnetic impurities in as-grown samples, and we determine the defect structure and magnetism in Y2Ti2O7-δ using diffuse neutron scattering and magnetization measurements. These defects are eliminated by oxygen annealing. The introduction of oxygen vacancies causes Ti(4+) to transform to magnetic Ti(3+) with quenched orbital magnetism, but the concentration is anomalously low. In the spin-ice material Dy2Ti2O7 we find that the same oxygen-vacancy defects suppress moments on neighbouring rare-earth sites, and that these magnetic distortions markedly slow down the long-time monopole dynamics at sub-Kelvin temperatures.

Using thermal boundary conditions to engineer the quantum state of a bulk magnet

The degree of contact between a system and the external environment can alter dramatically its proclivity to quantum mechanical modes of relaxation. We show that controlling the thermal coupling of cubic-centimeter-sized crystals of the Ising magnet LiHo(x)Y(1-x)F4 to a heat bath can be used to tune the system between a glassy state dominated by thermal excitations over energy barriers and a state with the hallmarks of a quantum spin liquid. Application of a magnetic field transverse to the Ising axis introduces both random magnetic fields and quantum fluctuations, which can retard and speed the annealing process, respectively, thereby providing a mechanism for continuous tuning between the destination states. The nonlinear response of the system explicitly demonstrates quantum interference between internal and external relaxation pathways.