Search

Experimental studies of frustrated spin systems such as pyrochlore magnetic oxides test our understanding of quantum many-body physics. Here the authors show experimentally that Tb2Hf2O7 may be a model material for investigating how structural disorder can stabilize a quantum spin liquid phase.

By means of the recent implementation of neutron polarization analysis on a wide-angle time-of-flight spectrometer, we have been able to separately measure coherent and incoherent dynamic structure factors of heavy water with sub-meV resolution in a wide scattering vector (Q) range. The observed decorrelation of collective fluctuations at mesoscales hardly depends on Q. In the crossover towards intermolecular scales, the coherent dynamics is nicely described by the convolution of a Q-independent mode and diffusion, in addition to collective excitations.