We report diffuse scattering measurements on the dipolar-octupolar pyrochlore ${\mathrm{Ce}}_2{\mathrm{Sn}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_7$ to elucidate its magnetic correlations within the correlated paramagnetic regime above its ordering temperature $T_N\sim 40\text{mK}$. The magnetic transition at $T_N$, observed in recent specific heat measurements, has been interpreted within the nearest-neighbor XYZ model as a transition into an all-in-all-out (AIAO) magnetic order. However, the observed diffuse scattering above $T_N$ argues against an AIAO magnetic order by exhibiting no short-range order at the AIAO wave vectors, inconsistent with the nearest-neighbor model. Instead, the observed diffuse scattering strongly resembles that observed in classical dipolar spin ice, ${\mathrm{Dy}}_2{\mathrm{Ti}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_7$, and suggests the presence of short-range correlated structures such as chains or clusters in the low-energy manifold of ${\mathrm{Ce}}_2{\mathrm{Sn}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_7$, favored by further neighbor interactions. We discuss how chainlike states qualitatively account for the observed H-T phase diagram under a [1,1,0] field.

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• Quantum spin liquid
• Spin ice
• Pyrochlores
• Neutron scattering