Distinguishing dipolar and octupolar quantum spin ices using contrasting magnetostriction signatures

Abstract

Recently there have been a number of experiments on Ce2Zr2O7 and Ce2Sn2O7, suggesting that these materials host a three-dimensional quantum spin liquid with emergent photons and fractionalized spinon excitations. However, the interpretation of the data to determine the precise nature of the quantum spin liquids is still under debate. The Kramers doublet in the Ce3+ local moment offers unusual pseudospin degrees of freedom as the x and z components transform as a dipole and the y component as an octupole. This leads to a variety of possible quantum spin liquid (or quantum spin ice) phases on the pyrochlore lattice of Ce3+ moments. In this work, we theoretically propose that magnetostriction would be able to distinguish the dipolar (D-QSI) and octupolar (O-QSI) quantum spin ice, where the dipolar or octupolar components possess the respective spin ice correlations. We show that the magnetostriction in various configurations can be used as a selection rule to differentiate not only D-QSI and O-QSI but also a number of competing broken-symmetry states.