Abstract
We present a single-crystal neutron diffraction study on the Shastry-Sutherland lattice system at zero magnetic field and under pulsed high magnetic fields up to 35 T applied along the crystallographic axis. While our results confirm the magnetic structures at zero field as well as those at the half- and full-magnetization plateaus, they offer insight into the - and -magnetization plateaus observed in this system. A stripe model of polarized 4-spin plaquettes whose stripe density proportionally increases with the macroscopic magnetization is in full agreement with the neutron diffraction data. Equally well-suited alternative models exist which explain the observed Bragg peaks being inherently limited in a pulsed high magnetic field experiment. We discuss the different intensity distributions in space which can be used to distinguish these models in future experiments.
- Received 8 July 2022
- Revised 26 August 2022
- Accepted 13 September 2022
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.106.094427
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