Magnetic-field induced transition to the 1/2 magnetization plateau state in the geometrically frustrated magnet CdCr2O4.

The magnetization of the geometrically frustrated spinel CdCr2O4 was measured in pulsed fields of up to 47 T. We found a metamagnetic transition to a very wide magnetization plateau state with one half of the full moment of S=3/2 Cr3+ at 28 T, independent of the field direction. This is the first observation of magnetization plateau state realized in Heisenberg pyrochlore magnet. The plateau state can be ascribed to a collinear spin configuration with three-up and one-down spins out of four spins of each Cr tetrahedron. A large magnetostriction is observed at the transition in spite of the negligible spin-orbit couplings. We argue that spin frustration plays a vital role in this large spin-lattice coupling.