Spin ice and other frustrated magnets on the pyrochlore lattice

Abstract

The recent identification of the dysprosium titanate compound Dy₂Ti₂O₇ as a "Spin ice", i.e. the spin analog of regular entropic ice of Pauling, has created considerable excitement. The ability to manipulate spins using magnetic fields gives a unique advantage over regular ice in these systems, and has been used to study the recovery of entropy. Predicted magnetization plateaus have been observed, testing the underlying model consisting of a competition between short-ranged super exchange, and long-ranged dipolar interactions between spins. I discuss other compounds that are possibly spin ice like: Ho₂Ti₂O₇, and the two stannates Ho₂Sn₂O₇, Dy₂Sn₂O₇.