Abstract
The fractional plateau phase ( FPP) in Shastry-Sutherland lattice (SSL) spin systems has been viewed an exemplar of emergence on an Archimedean lattice. Here we explore this phase in the Ising magnet using high-resolution specific heat () and magnetization () in the field-temperature plane. We show that the FPP is smoothly connected to the antiferromagnetic phase on ramping the field from . Thus, the FPP is not a distinct thermodynamic ground state of . The implication of these results for Heisenberg spins on the SSL is discussed.
- Received 26 December 2017
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.167203
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