Monte Carlo study on the detection of classical order by disorder in real antiferromagnetic Ising pyrochlores

Abstract

We use Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate the feasibility of detecting thermal order by disorder in real antiferromagnetic Ising pyrochlores, frustrated by a magnetic field applied in the [110] direction. Building on an ideal system with only nearest-neighbor exchange interactions and a perfectly oriented field, we consider the effects of dipolar interactions and field misalignment. Our approach is special in that it relies more in the possibility to switch on and off the entropic drive towards order than in the absence of (or immunity to) a particular perturbation. It can then be applied, in principle, to other uncontrolled interactions expected to be naturally present in real magnetic materials. We establish the conditions under which entropic effects can be discerned from an interaction drive towards order, show how to use neutron scattering as a means to unveil this mechanism, and discuss possible materials where to test these ideas.