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Antiferromagnetism
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Antiferromagneticordering
Inmaterialsthatexhibitantiferromagnetism,themagneticmomentsofatomsormolecules,usually
relatedtothespinsofelectrons,aligninaregularpatternwithneighboringspins(ondifferentsublattices)
pointinginoppositedirections.Thisis,likeferromagnetismandferrimagnetism,amanifestationof
orderedmagnetism.Generally,antiferromagneticordermayexistatsufficientlylowtemperatures,
vanishingatandaboveacertaintemperature,theNeltemperature(namedafterLouisNel,whohad
firstidentifiedthistypeofmagneticordering).[1]AbovetheNeltemperature,thematerialistypically
paramagnetic.

Contents
[hide]
1Measurement
2Antiferromagneticmaterials
3Geometricfrustration
4Otherproperties
5Seealso
6References
7Externallinks

Measurement[edit]
Whennoexternalfieldisapplied,theantiferromagneticstructurecorrespondstoavanishingtotal
magnetization.Inanexternalmagneticfield,akindofferrimagneticbehaviormaybedisplayedinthe
antiferromagneticphase,withtheabsolutevalueofoneofthesublatticemagnetizationsdifferingfrom
thatoftheothersublattice,resultinginanonzeronetmagnetization.Althoughthenetmagnetization
shouldbezeroatatemperatureofabsolutezero,theeffectofspincantingoftencausesasmallnet
magnetizationtodevelop,asseenforexampleinhematite.
ThemagneticsusceptibilityofanantiferromagneticmaterialtypicallyshowsamaximumattheNel
temperature.Incontrast,atthetransitionbetweentheferromagnetictotheparamagneticphasesthe
susceptibilitywilldiverge.Intheantiferromagneticcase,adivergenceisobservedinthestaggered
susceptibility.
Variousmicroscopic(exchange)interactionsbetweenthemagneticmomentsorspinsmayleadto
antiferromagneticstructures.Inthesimplestcase,onemayconsideranIsingmodelonanbipartite
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lattice,e.g.thesimplecubiclattice,withcouplingsbetweenspinsatnearestneighborsites.Dependingon
thesignofthatinteraction,ferromagneticorantiferromagneticorderwillresult.Geometricalfrustration
orcompetingferroandantiferromagneticinteractionsmayleadtodifferentand,perhaps,more
complicatedmagneticstructures.

Antiferromagneticmaterials[edit]
Antiferromagneticmaterialsoccurcommonlyamongtransitionmetalcompounds,especiallyoxides.
Examplesincludehematite,metalssuchaschromium,alloyssuchasironmanganese(FeMn),andoxides
suchasnickeloxide(NiO).Therearealsonumerousexamplesamonghighnuclearitymetalclusters.
Organicmoleculescanalsoexhibitantiferromagneticcouplingunderrarecircumstances,asseenin
radicalssuchas5dehydromxylylene.
Antiferromagnetscancoupletoferromagnets,forinstance,throughamechanismknownasexchange
bias,inwhichtheferromagneticfilmiseithergrownupontheantiferromagnetorannealedinanaligning
magneticfield,causingthesurfaceatomsoftheferromagnettoalignwiththesurfaceatomsofthe
antiferromagnet.Thisprovidestheabilityto"pin"theorientationofaferromagneticfilm,whichprovides
oneofthemainusesinsocalledspinvalves,whicharethebasisofmagneticsensorsincludingmodern
harddrivereadheads.Thetemperatureatorabovewhichanantiferromagneticlayerlosesitsabilityto
"pin"themagnetizationdirectionofanadjacentferromagneticlayeriscalledtheblockingtemperatureof
thatlayerandisusuallylowerthantheNeltemperature.

Geometricfrustration[edit]
Mainarticle:Geometricalfrustration
Unlikeferromagnetism,antiferromagneticinteractionscanleadtomultipleoptimalstates(groundstates
statesofminimalenergy).Inonedimension,theantiferromagneticgroundstateisanalternating
seriesofspins:up,down,up,down,etc.Yetintwodimensions,multiplegroundstatescanoccur.
Consideranequilateraltrianglewiththreespins,oneoneachvertex.Ifeachspincantakeononlytwo
values(upordown),thereare23=8possiblestatesofthesystem,sixofwhicharegroundstates.The
twosituationswhicharenotgroundstatesarewhenallthreespinsareuporarealldown.Inanyofthe
othersixstates,therewillbetwofavorableinteractionsandoneunfavorableone.Thisillustrates
frustration:theinabilityofthesystemtofindasinglegroundstate.Thistypeofmagneticbehaviorhas
beenfoundinmineralsthathaveacrystalstackingstructuresuchasaKagomelatticeorhexagonal
lattice.

Otherproperties[edit]
Syntheticantiferromagnets(oftenabbreviatedbySAF)areartificialantiferromagnetsconsistingoftwo
ormorethinferromagneticlayersseparatedbyanonmagneticlayer.Duetodipolecouplingofthe
ferromagneticlayerswhichresultsinantiparallelalignmentofthemagnetizationoftheferromagnets.
Antiferromagnetismplaysacrucialroleingiantmagnetoresistance,ashadbeendiscoveredin1988by
theNobelprizewinnersAlbertFertandPeterGrnberg(awardedin2007)usingsynthetic
antiferromagnets.
Therearealsoexamplesofdisorderedmaterials(suchasironphosphateglasses)thatbecome
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antiferromagneticbelowtheirNeltemperature.Thesedisorderednetworks'frustrate'theantiparallelism
ofadjacentspinsi.e.itisnotpossibletoconstructanetworkwhereeachspinissurroundedbyopposite
neighbourspins.Itcanonlybedeterminedthattheaveragecorrelationofneighbourspinsis
antiferromagnetic.Thistypeofmagnetismissometimescalledsperomagnetism.

Seealso[edit]
Exchangebias
Giantmagnetoresistance
Geometricallyfrustratedmagnet
Isingmodel
ANNNImodel
Mottness
Quantumspinliquid

References[edit]
1. L.Nel,PropritesmagntiquesdesferritesFrrimagntismeetantiferromagntisme,AnnalesdePhysique
(Paris)3,137198(1948).

Externallinks[edit]
Magnetism:ModelsandMechanisms inE.Pavarini,E.Koch,andU.Schollwck:Emergent
PhenomenainCorrelatedMatter,Jlich2013,ISBN9783893368846
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Antiferromagnetism&oldid=671466724"
Categories:
Quantumphases
Magneticordering
QuantumLatticemodels
Hiddencategories:
ArticlesneedingadditionalreferencesfromMay2014
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