Physics – Condensed Matter – Statistical Mechanics
Scientific paper
1998-09-11
Physics
Condensed Matter
Statistical Mechanics
Revtex 17 pages, 15 figures
Scientific paper
10.1103/PhysRevB.59.6239
Phase diagrams as a function of anisotropy $D$ and magnetic field $H$ are obtained for discommensurations and surface states for an antiferromagnet in which $H$ is parallel to the easy axis, by modeling it using the ground states of a one-dimensional chain of classical XY spins. A surface spin-flop phase exists for all $D$, but the interval in $H$ over which it is stable becomes extremely small as $D$ goes to zero. First-order transitions, separating different surface states and ending in critical points, exist inside the surface spin-flop region. They accumulate at a field $H'$ (depending on $D$) significantly less than the value $H_{SF}$ for a bulk spin-flop transition. For $H' < H < H_{SF}$ there is no surface spin-flop phase in the strict sense; instead, the surface restructures by, in effect, producing a discommensuration infinitely far away in the bulk. The results are used to explain in detail the phase transitions occurring in systems consisting of a finite, even number of layers.
Griffiths Robert B.
Micheletti Cristian
Yeomans Julia M.
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