Field-dependent quantum nucleation of antiferromagnetic bubbles

The phenomenon of quantum nucleation is studied in a nanometer-scale antiferromagnet with biaxial symmetry in the presence of a magnetic field at an arbitrary angle. Within the instanton approach, we calculate the dependence of the rate of quantum nucleation and the crossover temperature on the orientation and strength of the field for bulk solids and two-dimensional films of antiferromagnets, respectively. Our results show that the rate of quantum nucleation and the crossover temperature from thermal-to-quantum transitions depend on the orientation and strength of the field distinctly, which can be tested with the use of existing experimental techniques.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, Final version and accepted by Eur. Phys. J

Spin tunneling properties in mesoscopic magnets: effects of a magnetic field

The tunneling of a giant spin at excited levels is studied theoretically in mesoscopic magnets with a magnetic field at an arbitrary angle in the easy plane. Different structures of the tunneling barriers can be generated by the magnetocrystalline anisotropy, the magnitude and the orientation of the field. By calculating the nonvacuum instanton solution explicitly, we obtain the tunnel splittings and the tunneling rates for different angle ranges of the external magnetic field ($\theta_{H}=\pi/2$ and $\pi/2<\theta_{H}<\pi$). The temperature dependences of the decay rates are clearly shown for each case. It is found that the tunneling rate and the crossover temperature depend on the orientation of the external magnetic field. This feature can be tested with the use of existing experimental techniques.Comment: 27 pages, 4 figures, accepted by Euro. Phys. J.

Spin-phase interference, coherent superposition, and quantum tunneling at excited levels in nano-antiferromagnets

The spin-phase interference effects are studied analytically in resonant quantum tunneling of the N\'{e}el vector between degenerate excited levels in nanometer-scale single-domain antiferromagnets in the absence of an external magnetic field. We consider a model for mesoscopic antiferromagnets with uncompensated excess spins for the more general structure of magnetic anisotropy, such as biaxial, trigonal, tetragonal and hexagonal crystal symmetry. This study provides a nontrivial generalization of the Kramers degeneracy for double-well system to coherently spin tunneling at ground states as well as low-lying excited states in AFM system with $m$-fold rotational symmetry around the $\hat{z}$ axis. The energy level spectrum and the thermodynamic properties of magnetic tunneling states are found to depend significantly on the parity of the excess spins at sufficiently low temperatures. Possible relevance to experiments is also discussed.Comment: 22 pages, no figure, accepted for publication in PR

Effects of Finite Deformed Length in Carbon Nanotubes

The effect of finite deformed length is demonstrated by squashing an armchair (10,10) single-walled carbon nanotube with two finite tips. Only when the deformed length is long enough, an effectual metal-semiconductor-metal heterojunction can be formed in the metallic tube. The effect of finite deformed length is explained by the quantum tunnelling effect. Furthermore, some conceptual designs of nanoscale devices are proposed from the metal-semiconductor-metal heterojunction.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Eight-potential-well order-disorder ferroelectric model and effects of random fields

An eight-potential-well order-disorder ferroelectric model was presented and the phase transition was studied under the mean-field approximation. It was shown that the two-body interactions are able to account for the first-order and the second order phase transitions. With increasing the random fields in the system, a first-order phase transition is transformed into a second-order phase transition, and furthermore, a second-order phase transition is inhibited. However, proper random fields can promote the spontaneous appearance of a first-order phase transition by increasing the overcooled temperature. The connections of the model with relaxors were discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to Applied Physics Letter

Magnetization quantum tunneling at excited levels for a biaxial spin system in an arbitrarily directed magnetic field

The quantum tunneling of the magnetization vector between excited levels are studied theoretically in single-domain ferromagnetic nanoparticles with biaxial crystal symmetry placed in an external magnetic field at an arbitarily directed angle in the ZX plane. The temperature dependences of the tunneling frequency and the decay rate are clearly shown for each case.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. B (Augest 1st