Titanium pyrochlore magnets : how much can be learned from magnetization measurements?

We report magnetization data for several titanium pyrochlore systems measured down to 0.5 K. The measurements, performed on single crystal samples in fields of up to 7 kOe, have captured the essential elements of the previously reported phase transitions in these compounds and have also revealed additional important features overlooked previously either because of the insufficiently low temperatures used, or due to limitations imposed by polycrystalline samples. For the spin-ice pyrochlores Dy(2)Ti(2)O(7) and Ho(2)Ti(2)O(7), an unusually slow relaxation of the magnetization has been observed in lower fields, while the magnetization process in higher fields is essentially hysteresis-free and does not depend on sample history. For the XY pyrochlore Er(2)Ti(2)O(7), the magnetic susceptibility shows nearly diverging behaviour on approach to a critical field, H(C) = 13.5 kOe, above which the magnetization does not saturate but continues to grow at a significant rate. For the Heisenberg pyrochlore Gd(2)Ti(2)O(7), the magnetic susceptibility shows a pronounced change of slope at both transition temperatures, T(N1) = 1.02 K and T(N2) = 0.74 K, contrary to the earlier reports