Surface-induced disordering at first-order transitions in body-centered cubic binary alloys: A Monte-Carlo simulation

Surface effects on the phase transition from theDO3 phase to the disordered phase are studied for a bcc Ising antiferromagnet with nearest and next-nearest neighbor exchange interactions in a magnetic field. This model can also be considered to represent binary alloys such as the FeAl-system; missing interactions near the surface translate then into surface magnetic fields. The change of the local magnetization near the surface then corresponds to “surface enrichment” of one component. For a plausible choice of parameters surface-induced disordering is found and the associated critical behavior is studied. Varying the bulk fieldH near the transition fieldHc, we find that the thickness of th…