Neutron scattering experiments revealed how emergent multi-spin clusters suppress conventional magnetic ordering in a frustrated pyrochlore magnet. These results showed how magnetic interactions beyond those of nearest neighbors can generate emergent magnetic clusters, and the analysis provides a blueprint for the determination of magnetic interactions in complex materials.
Geometrical frustration—the inability to satisfy competing interactions simultaneously due to geometrical constraints—plays a central role in exotic phases of matter including those that may provide a path to the realization of a quantum computer. Canonical models of frustrated magnetism often consider spins coupled by antiferromagnetic nearest-neighbor interactions. By achieving a comprehensive understanding of the magnetic interactions between spins in the “breathing” pyrochlore material LiGaCr4S8, this work demonstrates the formation of emergent spin clusters interacting through and frustrated by long-range interactions. To unravel the properties of LiGaCr4S8, researchers used a combination of neutron scattering experiments at the Spallation Neutron Source and the High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and state-of-the-art modeling and theoretical calculations. This research demonstrates how long-range interactions can lead to novel types of frustrated magnetism.
