Synthesis and Magnetic Properties of Spin-Liquid Tb2Ti2O7

Polycrystalline samples of a novel spin-liquid compound Tb2Ti2O7 were prepared by a standard solid-state reaction. X-ray diffraction at room temperature confirms that the synthesized compound of Tb2Ti2O7 is single phase with cubic unit cell constant a0 of 1.015 44 nm. Magnetic susceptibility measurements in the temperature range between 100 and 300 K give an effective moment of 9.44 μB and Curie-Weiss temperature of 12.68 K, respectively, indicating the dominance of antiferromagnetic interactions. However, below 50 K, the magnetic behavior of Tb2Ti2O7 deviates from Curie-Weiss law, whose origin remains suspicion.