Properties of small antiferromagnetic Ising clusters

Magnetic properties of small antiferromagnetic clusters have been studied by using the Ising model with nearest-neighbour interactions. The number of atoms in the clusters varied between 6 and 30. Several cluster geometries were analysed in detail with the result that there is no generic phase diagram. In an external magnetic field magnetisation can increase with increasing temperature in a considerable temperature range. Magnetisation was found to strongly depend on both the overall geometry of the cluster and on the symmetry of the underlaying lattice structure.

Antiferromagnetic order and frustration in small clusters