Magnetostriction of the spin-ice system Yb2Ti2O7

Low temperature magnetostriction effects have been studied at Yb2Ti2O7 which is characterized by a geometric magnetic frustration. The experimental finding and the developed theory suggest that Yb2Ti2O7 is a quantum spin ice. Most of the magnetoelastic effects can be explained by an exchange striction model. The external magnetic field together with the temperature govern the transition between the collective paramagnetic behavior of the classical spin ice and the magnetically ordered state.