Spin-1/2 XXZ Heisenberg cupolae: magnetization process and related enhanced magnetocaloric effect

Abstract

The magnetization curves and magnetocaloric effect during the adiabatic demagnetization of antiferromagnetic spin-1/2 XXZ Heisenberg clusters with the shape of Johnson's solids (triangular cupola, square cupola and pentagonal cupola) are investigated using the exact numerical diagonalization for different values of the exchange anisotropy ranging in between the Ising and fully isotropic limit. It is demonstrated that spin-1/2 XXZ Heisenberg cupolae display, in comparison with their Ising counterparts, at least one more magnetization plateau. The novel magnetization plateaux extends over a wider range of the magnetic fields with increasing of a quantum part of the XXZ exchange coupling at the expense of the original plateaux present in the limiting Ising case. It is shown that the spin-1/2 XXZ Heisenberg triangular and pentagonal cupolae exhibit an enhanced magnetocaloric effect in the vicinity of zero magnetic field, which makes these magnetic systems promising refrigerants for cooling down to ultra-low zero temperatures.