"Switching" of Magnetic Anisotropy in a fcc Antiferromagnet with Direction-Dependent Interactions

Abstract

Direction-dependent anisotropic exchange is a common feature of magnetic systems with strong spin-orbit coupling. Here we study the effect of such exchange upon macroscopic magnetic anisotropy for a face-centered-cubic model. By several theoretical techniques, we show that, both in the paramagnetic and ordered phases, the magnetic anisotropy is induced by fluctuations. Moreover, the magnetic anisotropy differs in the paramagnetic and ordered phases: in the paramagnetic phase the susceptibility is maximum along the $⟨111⟩$ directions, while the magnetic moments orient along $⟨110⟩$ or $⟨100⟩$ in the ordered phase. We suggest that such "anisotropy switching" can be a common feature of strongly spin-orbit coupled magnets.

5 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (6)

• Mott Insulators in the Strong Spin-Orbit Coupling Limit: From Heisenberg to a Quantum Compass and Kitaev Models
• Hyper-honeycomb iridate $\beta$-Li2IrO3 as a platform for Kitaev magnetism
• Long range magnetic ordering in Na${}_2$IrO${}_3$
• Ferromagnetism in the Mott insulator Ba2NaOsO6
• Non-coplanar and counter-rotating incommensurate magnetic order stabilized by Kitaev interactions in $\gamma$-Li2IrO3
• Magnetism in S=1/2 Double-Perovskites with Strong Spin-Orbit Interactions

Cited by in corpus (7)

• An anisotropic spin model of strong spin-orbit-coupled triangular antiferromagnets
• Quantum versus thermal fluctuations in the fcc antiferromagnet: alternative routes to order by disorder
• Calculated g-factors of 5d double perovskites Ba2NaOsO6 and Ba2YOsO6
• Magnon spectrum of the Weyl semimetal half-Heusler compound GdPtBi
• Color ice states, weathervane modes, and order by disorder in the bilinear-biquadratic pyrochlore Heisenberg antiferromagnet
• Magnetic anisotropy by Rashba spin-orbit coupling in antiferromagnetic thin films
• Temperature-dependent magnetic anisotropy from directional-dependent interactions