THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF A MIXED SPIN-1/2 AND SPIN-1 MAGNETIC SUPERLATTICE

Abstract

One considers a magnetic superlattice formed by mixed spin-1/2 and spin-1 alternate monolayers of ferromagnetic materials linked ferromagnetically with one another. Each monolayer is modelled by a simple quartic lattice of spins coupled via nearest-neighbor exchange (Ising ferromagnetic) with a single-ion anisotropy D acting in the spin-1 sites. An effective-field theory that accounts for self-spin correlation is used to study the phase diagram and magnetization curves. It is found that the phase diagrams exhibit a number of interesting phenomena resulting from the dependence of the crystal field interaction. The magnetization and quadrupolar moment curves are also shown for a range of the interaction strengths and the anisotropy parameters.