Evidence for spin liquid ground state in SrDy$_2$O$_4$ frustrated magnet probed by muSR

Abstract

Muon spin relaxation ($μ$SR) measurements were carried out on SrDy$_2$O$_4$, a frustrated magnet featuring short range magnetic correlations at low temperatures. Zero-field muon spin depolarization measurements demonstrate that fast magnetic fluctuations are present from $T=300$ K down to 20 mK. The coexistence of short range magnetic correlations and fluctuations at $T=20$ mK indicates that SrDy$_2$O$_4$ features a spin liquid ground state. Large longitudinal fields affect weakly the muon spin depolarization, also suggesting the presence of fast fluctuations. For a longitudinal field of $μ_0H=2$ T, a non-relaxing asymmetry contribution appears below $T=6$ K, indicating considerable slowing down of the magnetic fluctuations as field-induced magnetically-ordered phases are approached.

6 pages, 4 figures, to be published as a proceeding of HFM2016 in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS)