Chemical Pressure Effects on Pyrochlore Spin Ice

A comparison among the two sets of studied pyrochlore spin ices, Ho2Sn2O7, Ho2Ti2O7, and Ho2Ge2O7 with Ho3+ spins and Dy2Sn2O7, Dy2Ti2O7, and Dy2Ge2O7 with Dy3+ spins, shows that the application of chemical pressure through each set drives the system toward the antiferromagnetic phase boundary from the spin ice region, which agrees with the prediction of the dipolar spin ice model of den Hertog and Gingras. Among all the studied pyrochlore spin ices, Dy2Ge2O7 has the smallest ratio of J(nn)/D-nn = -0.73.