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Magnetic properties of surfaces and interfaces

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7073523· OSTI ID:7073523
 [1]
  1. California Univ., Berkeley, CA (USA). Dept. of Physics Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA)

A survey of the magnetic properties of three types of planar defects is presented: a model interface in an Ising antiferromagnet, a model of the surface of an antiferromagnet, and a realistic calculation of the magnetic properties of stacking defects in a bulk ferromagnet. The simplest interface studied is the antiphase boundary in the nearest-neighbor face-centered-cubic Ising antiferromagnet. The properties of this defect are understood by means of the construction and solution of an exactly solvable thermodynamic model which mimics the boundary's properties. The implications for further calculations using the nearest-neighbor face-centered-cubic Ising model are explored. This thesis then examines the effects of introducing a free surface in a real antiferromagnetic semiconductor, EuTe. The complex magnetic structures of the {l brace}001{r brace} faces of this material, which include spin structures incommensurable with the underlying lattice, are understood in terms of a classical Heisenberg Hamiltonian. Finally, the magnetic properties of {l brace}111{r brace} stacking faults in nickel are investigated utilizing a self-consistent, layered Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker formalism based on the local-density approximation to density-functional theory. Very simple expressions for the spin polarization and internal energy are developed. The range of behaviors displayed by these three systems is remarkable in its diversity, and yet the underlying mechanisms are all similar. This similarity suggests that many of the tools necessary for understanding the magnetic properties of surfaces and interfaces are readily available.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE/ER
DOE Contract Number:
AC03-76SF00098
OSTI ID:
7073523
Report Number(s):
LBL-28170; ON: DE90007348
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English