Abstract
The pyrochlore structure (A2B2O7) has been an object of consistent study by materials scientists largely due to the stability of the cubic lattice with respect to a wide variety of chemical species on the A or B sites. The criterion for stability under ambient conditions is controlled by the ratio of these cations, which is empirically 1.36 < RA/RB < 1.71. However, under applied pressure synthesis conditions, the pyrochlore lattice is stable up to RA/RB ∼ 2.30, opening up possibilities for new compounds. In this review, we will highlight recent work in exploring new rare-earth pyrochlores such as the germanates RE2Ge2O7 and platinates RE2Pt2O7. We highlight recent discoveries made in these pyrochlores such as highly correlated spin ice behavior, spin liquid ground states, and exotic magnetic ordering.
Highlights
The cubic pyrochlores of space group Fd3m have been known since 1826, discovered as a mineral family in Stavern, Norway [1]
If the A and B sites are too dissimilar in size, non-cubic phases are stable under atmospheric pressure conditions, such as the pyrogermanate phase [5]
This provides a means of tuning the RE cation, and the f-electron magnetism on the A-site
Summary
The cubic pyrochlores of space group Fd3m have been known since 1826, discovered as a mineral family in Stavern, Norway [1]. The popularity of the titanate series in particular, with RE2 Ti2 O7 (RE = rare-earth trivalent ion), in the condensed matter physics community is rooted in the relative ease of producing large single crystals using, for example, floating zone image furnaces This provides a means of tuning the RE cation, and the f-electron magnetism on the A-site (with the B site being a stable diamagnetic Ti4+ state). Many cubic pyrochlore phases have been synthesized under ambient pressure, as the tolerance factor determined by the ratio of cation diameters, 1.36 < R A /RB < 1.71, where R A and RB are the Aand B-site crystal radii, enables a wide coverage of the periodic table (see Figure 1).
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