Magnetization process in holmium: easy axis spin reorientation induced by the magnetostrictive basal plane distortion

We report on the change of the easy axis direction in holmium, from the a to the b axis, under the application of a magnetic field in the basal plane. This spin reorientation is observed by measuring the magnetic torque in Ho(n)/Lu(15) superlattices (n and 15 are the number of atomic planes in the Ho and Lu blocks). We also observe that, at the field H0 and temperature at which the reorientation occurs, both axes are easy directions. Based on the fact that the field H0 depends on n in the same way as the field-induced magnetoelastic distortion does, we propose that this spin reorientation originates from the strong field-induced magnetoelastic deformation within the basal plane. The modulation of the alpha strains with sixfold symmetry originates a 12-fold term in the magnetic anisotropy energy.     

Ferromagnetic resonance in the Cr1/3NbS2 helical magnet

The high-frequency spin excitations in the Cr_1/3NbS₂ helical magnet have been investigated. The contributions of the uniform and Goldstone modes of the spin precession have been determined. It has been shown that the resonant field of the uniform mode is determined by the uniaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy. Final values of the energy and the resonant field of the Goldstone mode are determined by the sixth-order magnetocrystalline anisotropy in the basal plane.     

Changes of easy axis during the magnetization of dysprosium

Changes in the easy axis of magnetization of dysprosium, within the basal plane, between 77 and 160 K and in applied fields up to 1.25 T, reported by Bly et al. [1] have been reinvestigated and some inconsistencies have been resolved. Changes were only confirmed above 132 K, where the b axis is easy just above the critical field. On increasing the applied field the basal plane anisotropy dies away reappearing with the a axis easy. The changeover occurs at field and temperature values very close to those where a magnetoresistance anomaly has been observed by Akhavan et al. [2]. It is shown that this change may be explained in principle, without any change in the crystal field, by the narrowing of a fan-like spin structure occurring as an intermediate phase between the helical anti-ferromagnetic and the ferromagnetic phases. Between 77 and 110 K anomalies in torque curves in low fields are attributed to domain processes.     

Acoustic excitation of nuclear spin waves in the easy-plane antiferromagnetic material KMnF3

Ultrasound damping at T=4.2 K in single crystal easy-plane antiferromagnetic KMnF₃ is studied experimentally as a function of the magnitude and direction of a constant magnetic field H at frequencies of 640–670 MHz, corresponding to the frequencies of nuclear spin waves. Two experimental situations are examined: in the first, the vector H lies in the easy magnetization plane (001), and in the second, H forms an angle with (001). For longitudinal ultrasound waves propagating along the hard magnetization axis [001], it is found that the damping depends resonantly on the magnitude of the field H. In the first case a single damping maximum is observed, and in the second, two damping peaks that are well resolved with respect to the field. The angular dependence of the resonance damping signals on the direction of the constant magnetic field is found to have a 90° periodicity in all cases. The observed effects are explained by resonant ultrasonic excitation of nuclear spin waves. On the basis of an analysis of the magnetoacoustic interaction energy, it is shown that in the first case, nonzero oscillations of the antiferromagnetism vector L occur only in the basal plane, while in the second, oscillations of L occur both in the basal and a vertical plane, which are associated, respectively, with two branches of the nuclear spin waves. It is also shown that the 90° periodicity in the angular dependence of the damping signals is associated with a fourth order [001] axis. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 112, 1830–1840 (November 1997)     

Ultrasonic study of dysprosium in a magnetic field

The ultrasonic attenuation of longitudinal waves propagating along the c axis of single crystal dyprosium is reported, as a function of the applied basal plane field in the paramagnetic region, and as a function of the temperature, at constant applied basal plane field, in the spin-spiral region. In the paramagnetic region, anomalous attenuation behavior is explained on the basis of competing spin-polarization and spin-fluctuation effects. Two anomalous maxima in the temperature dependence of the attenuation were observed: one near T_N is attributed to spin fluctuations associated with short range ferromagnetic ordering; another one at 130 K is attributed to a magnetic phase transition from a fanstructure phase, intermediate between the spin-spiral and ferromagnetically ordered phase     

Magnetic bloch electron states and spin polarization in 2D superlattices without an inversion center with Rashba spin-orbit interaction in an electron gas

The quantum states of carriers in 2D doubly periodic n-type semiconducting superlattices without spatial inversion symmetry in an external magnetic field are calculated in the one-electron approximation. It is shown that the spin-orbit interaction and spin splitting in the magnetic field may lead to the occurrence of the photovoltaic effect in a 2D electron gas without an inversion center and to a nonzero spin magnetization of the electron gas in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field.     

Comparative study of ESR spectra in incommensurate antiferromagnets

The electron spin resonance is studied for noncollinear low-dimensional antiferromagnets RbMnBr₃ and RbFe(MoO₄)₂ in a wide range of frequencies and fields. Both compounds have incommensurate spin structures appearing due to a low-symmetry distortion of an ideal hexagonal crystal lattice. Magnetic field applied in the spin plane induces a first-order transition into the commensurate phase. The low-energy resonance branch corresponding to a uniform oscillation of the spin system in the easy plane is observed in the two compounds in both incommensurate and commensurate phases, with a dramatic change of the spectra taking place near the transition field. The resonance spectrum of a nearly commensurate spin structure with long-wave modulations is analyzed in clean and dirty limits in the framework of a hydrodynamic approach. The resonance branch with steep field dependence in the incommensurate state is attributed to the acoustic mode with the gap resulted from pinning of local domain walls (discommensurations) on defects of the crystal structure.     

Negative differential thermal resistance in coupled rotor lattices

Contributions of homogeneous and Goldstone modes of the spin precession were distinguished in FMR spectra of Cr_1/3NbS₂ chiral helimagnet. The resonance field of homogeneous mode is determined by uniaxial magnetic anisotropy. The resonance field of Goldstone mode is determined by six-fold anisotropy in basal plane. For the first time, it has been shown experimentally that effective excitation of Goldstone mode is realized only when microwave magnetic field vector h is perpendicular to wave vector of magnetic structure Q.     

Unusual magnetic-field-induced phase transition in the mixed state of superconducting NbSe2

The thermal conductivity kappa in the basal plane of single-crystalline hexagonal NbSe2 has been measured as a function of magnetic field H, oriented both along and perpendicular to the c axis, at several temperatures below T(c). With the magnetic field in the basal plane and oriented parallel to the heat flux we observed, in fields well below H(c2), an unexpected hysteretic behavior of kappa(H) with all the generic features of a first order phase transition. The transition is not manifest in the kappa(H) curves, if H is still in the basal plane but oriented perpendicularly to the heat-flux direction. The origin of the transition is not yet understood.     

Magnetic-field-induced orientational phase transition in a nonuniformly stressed iron borate single crystal

Spatially nonuniform magnetic anisotropy was induced in the basal plane of an iron borate (FeBO₃) single crystal by applying low-symmetry stresses. The effect of nonuniform magnetic anisotropy on the magnetic state of this weak ferromagnet was studied by magnetooptic methods. It is revealed that, when a nonuniformly stressed FeBO₃ crystal is magnetized in the basal plane along a certain direction (depending on the symmetry of the applied stress), a transition from a uniform to a spatially modulated magnetic state occurs, which is not observed in the crystal in the absence of stresses. The modulated magnetic phase of the crystal can be represented as a static spin wave linearly polarized in the basal plane, with the azimuth of the weak-ferromagnetism vector oscillating about the direction of the mean magnetization. The temperature and field dependences of the spatial period of the modulated magnetic structure and the amplitude of oscillations of the ferromagnetism vector are studied, and the temperature dependence of the field range over which the modulated phase exists in the nonuniformly stressed FeBO₃ crystal is found. The results are discussed in terms of the phenomenological theory of magnetic phase transformations. It is shown that the theoretical model used consistently describes all the experimental results of the study of the noncollinear magnetic phase of the nonuniformly stressed FeBO₃ crystal.     

Magnetostriction of antiferromagnetic FeGe2

The anisotropic magnetostriction of FeGe₂ is measured for magnetic field along the [1 0 0] and [1 1 0] axes at temperature 4.2 K and along [1 0 0] from 77 to 300 K. The behaviour is consistent with spin reorientation in the basal plane. The saturation magnetostriction and the characteristic field required to produce saturation decrease with increasing temperature and approach zero at the lower transition temperature, $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{K}}\text{? 265}$ K. This suggests that the spins flip from the basal plane into the direction of the tetragonal [0 0 1] axis at T_K.     

Analogue of a spin flop phase transition for an array of magnetic moments with dipole interaction

In a two-dimensional array of magnetic moments with planar magnetization and relatively weak anisotropy in the basal plane, a stepwise phase transition is induced by an external magnetic field parallel to the easy axis of the system. This transition is similar to the spin flop phase transition in weakly anisotropic Heisenberg antiferromagnets with the significant difference that it is accompanied by the rearrangement of the sublattice structure of the magnet; i.e., it can be interpreted as a topological transition. The transition should manifest itself for arrays of submicron magnetic particles (magnetic dots) on nonmagnetic substrates, which have recently become the object of intensive research.     

Semiclassical dynamics of vortices in 2D easy-plane ferromagnets

Semiclassical dynamics of magnetic vortices in 2D lattice models of easy-plane ferromagnets is investigated. It is shown that the low-energy part of the spectrum of vortices treated as quantum excitations of the system exhibits a nontrivial structure. The simplest spectrum is observed for standard magnetic vortices, in which magnetization at long distances from the center of a vortex is parallel to the basal plane. In this case, the spectrum has a band structure consisting of several nonintersecting bands, whose number is determined only by the value of atomic spin S and lattice symmetry. For purely 2D magnets with a single spin per unit cell, the number of bands is S or 2S for integral and half-integral values of spin S, respectively. For a lattice with the basis with an even number 2n of spins per unit cell, the number of bands is 2nS for any spins. The situation radically changes for vortices in the cone state as compared to standard vortices, for which the magnetization at a long distance from the center of a vortex rotates in the easy plane of the magnet. Vortices in the cone state are formed under the action of a constant external field perpendicular to the easy plane of the magnet. As a rule, the spectrum for such vortices is not a standard band spectrum and forms a set such that a forbidden energy value can be found in any small neighborhood of an allowed value, and vice versa. The possibility of an oscillatory motion of a vortex under the action of a constant external force is indicated (analog of Bloch oscillations of electrons in crystals). Possible realization of these effects in other ordered media with vortices is considered.     

Technical magnetization of the nonuniformly stressed iron borate single crystal

Additional spatial nonuniform magnetic anisotropy is induced in the basal plane of a FeBO₃ single crystal using low-symmetry mechanical stresses. The effect of the nonuniform magnetic anisotropy on the magnetic state of this weak easy-plane ferromagnet is studied by a magnetooptic method. When the nonuniformly stressed FeBO₃ crystal is magnetized in the basal plane near a certain preferential direction, the crystal is found to transform from a homogeneous into a spatially modulated magnetic state, which can be represented by a static spin wave in which a local ferromagnetism vector lies in the basal plane and oscillates about the average magnetization direction in the crystal.     

Path integral treatment for relativistic particles in external fields and quantized plane wave

The dynamics of relativistic particles of spin 0 and 1/2, interacting with an external electromagnetic field and a quantized plane wave, is studied using the path integral framework. We take advantage of the existing properties of the interaction to introduce a delta functional in order to calculate Green's functions. This simply reduces the problem to two coupled oscillators. The energy spectrum and wave functions are calculated for the spin 0 case and the analogy with Jaynes‐Cummings model is made to derive the energy spectrum for the spin 1/2 case.     

Nonequilibrium Phase Transition in Spin-S Ising Ferromagnet Driven by Propagating and Standing Magnetic Field Wave

The dynamical response of spin-S(S=1, 3/2, 2, 3) Ising ferromagnet to the plane propagating wave, standing magnetic field wave and uniformly oscillating field with constant frequency are studied separately in two dimensions by extensive Monte Carlo simulation. Depending upon the strength of the magnetic field and the value of the spin state of the Ising spin lattice two different dynamical phases are observed. For a fixed value of S and the amplitude of the propagating magnetic field wave the system undergoes a dynamical phase transition from propagating phase to pinned phase as the temperature of the system is cooled down. Similarly in case with standing magnetic wave the system undergoes dynamical phase transition from high temperature phase where spins oscillate coherently in alternate bands of half wavelength of the standing magnetic wave to the low temperature pinned or spin frozen phase. For a fixed value of the amplitude of magnetic field oscillation the transition temperature is observed to decrease to a limiting value as the value of spin S is increased. The time averaged magnetisation over a full cycle of the magnetic field oscillation plays the role of the dynamic order parameter. A comprehensive phase boundary is drawn in the plane of magnetic field amplitude and dynamic transition temperature. It is found that the phase boundary shrinks inwards for high value of spin state S.Also in the low temperature(and high field) region the phase boundaries are closely spaced.     

Theory of Faraday rotation beats in quantum wells with large spin splitting

Spin dynamics of conduction electrons in a quantum well with a zinc blende structure is considered theoretically for the case where spin splitting exceeds the collisional broadening of energy levels. It is shown that, under certain conditions, the spin density component normal to the quantum well plane may oscillate with time even in the absence of an external magnetic field. These oscillations can be excited and detected using nonlinear two-pulse spectroscopy. Contrary to the case of small spin splitting, the external transverse magnetic field strongly affects spin dynamics in this regime.     

Magnons localised on surface steps: a theoretical model

We present the solution of the full magnetic problem arising from the absence of magnetic translation symmetry in two dimensions due to an extended magnetic surface step on the surface boundary of an insulating magnetic substrate. The calculation concerns in particular the spin fluctuation dynamics of a magnetic atomic step in the surface of a ferromagnetic simple cubic lattice, the spin order being in the direction normal to surface boundary. Only exchange interactions are considered between the spins in the model. The theoretical approach determines the evanescent spin fluctuation field in the two dimensional plane normal to the direction of the step edge. This field arises owing to the absence of magnetic translation symmetry in this plane, and is completely independent of the form of the surface defect, underlying the general character of the calculation. We show the existence of optical localised magnon modes propagating along the step, their fields being evanescent in the plane normal to the step direction. Received 17 February 1999     

Spin-plasmon oscillations of the two-dimensional electron gas

Interaction of the spins of 2D electrons with an alternating electric field in the plane of the system is considered. It is assumed that the double spin degeneracy is eliminated by the spin-orbit splitting. It is shown that transitions between different spin states produce a narrow absorption band in the degenerate electron gas. In the frequency domain corresponding to these transitions, those frequencies are combined with two-dimensional plasmons; as a result, the plasmon spectrum is modified, and a new type of oscillations occurs, namely, a spin-plasmon polariton. The dispersion law of these oscillations is derived. The problem of the excitation of spin-plasmon polaritons by an external electromagnetic field is solved.     

Sm2(TM)17合金的磁性(自旋再取向相变)研究

本文研究了Sm₂(FeNiCoM)₁₇合金(M为非磁性组元)的磁性。样品由六角结构无序型的2∶17主相及少量FeNi合金杂相组成。在六角结构的e轴方向(易磁化方向)观察到下述异常现象:低温(273K以下)时的磁化及反磁化曲线发生明显的跃变,跃变时相应的磁场H_r随温度下降而增大;磁滞迴线是蜂腰型的,温度愈低蜂腰愈明显;升温时磁化强度随温度变化(1.5K至居里点T_C)的曲线上出现极大值,其相应的温度T_t随磁场增大而降低;降温时观察到了热磁滞后现象。但在基面(难磁化方向)上及Co含量增多(>18at％)时,样品却表现了正常的铁磁行为。本文提出用磁矩非共线结构排列的自旋再取向相变来解释上述异常现象,并给出自旋倒向所需越过的能垒高度U=9.2×10^-15erg,用设想磁结构的模型得到的磁化强度的计算值与实验值也符合得较好。 关键词：