Specific Heat of the Dilute Ising MagnetLiHoxY1−xF4

Abstract

We present specific heat data on three samples of the dilute Ising magnet LiHoxY1-xF4 with x=0.018, 0.045, and 0.080. Previous measurements of the ac susceptibility of an x=0.045 sample showed the Ho3+ moments to remain dynamic down to very low temperatures, and the specific heat was found to have unusually sharp features. In contrast, our measurements do not exhibit these sharp features in the specific heat and instead show a broad feature, for all three samples studied, which is qualitatively consistent with a spin glass state. Integrating C/T, however, reveals an increase in residual entropy with lower Ho concentration, consistent with recent Monte Carlo simulations showing a lack of spin glass transition for low x.