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Inducing Spontaneous Magnetization in Antiferromagnets

1997; Volume: 305; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/10587259708045074

1058-725X

Fernando Palacio,

Advanced Condensed Matter Physics

Abstract Spontaneous magnetization is a most important property in magnetism because of both practical and fundamental reasons. However, nature tends to favour antiferromagnetic alignment better than ferromagnetic one. This is particularly so in the case of molecular systems. This paper emphasizes the point that such tendency does not necessarily excludes the possibility of the presence of spontaneous magnetization in systems where antiferromagnetic interactions dominate and reviews several possibilities other than the well-known ferrimagnetism that permit inducing spontaneous magnetization in antiferromagnets. Examples include favouring non collinear antiparallel alignment of the magnetic moments, or the flipping of spins to parallel alignment by the action of a small magnetic field. The introduction of a certain degree of magnetic disorder in antiferromagnetic lattices can also produce a remnant magnetization in the material. Necessary conditions required for each strategy and some selected examples are discussed.