Low-temperature magnetic correlations in SrTb2O4

We propose to probe the development of the magnetic correlations in SrTb2O4 using WISH neutron diffractometer. In a magnetic sense, SrTb2O4 consists of triangular zig-zag ladders and is therefore affected by geometrical frustration. Our initial measurements for T>1.5 K (using CYCLOPS and D7 instruments at the ILL) revealed a disordered magnetic ground state, which we now want to examine at sub 1 K temperatures. We are particularly interested in the details of the low-temperature diffuse scattering signal, which we have studied in similar compounds (SrEr2O4, SrHo2O4, SrDy2O4, BaDy2O4) allowing us to claim an unusual coexistence of magnetic orders with different correlation lengths as well as a peculiar field dependence with metamagnetic transitions and magnetisation plateaux.