Quantum-Classical Reentrant Relaxation Crossover in Dy2Ti2O7 Spin Ice

Abstract

We have studied spin relaxation in the spin ice compound Dy2Ti2O7 through measurements of the ac magnetic susceptibility. While the characteristic spin-relaxation time (τ) is thermally activated at high temperatures, it becomes almost temperature independent below Tcross∼13 K. This behavior, combined with nonmonotonic magnetic field dependence of τ, indicates that quantum tunneling dominates the relaxational process below that temperature. As the low-entropy spin ice state develops below Tice∼4 K, τ increases sharply with decreasing temperature, suggesting the emergence of a collective degree of freedom for which thermal relaxation processes again become important as the spins become strongly correlated.