Peculiar from-Edge-to-Interior Spin Freezing in a Magnetic Dipolar Cube

TL;DR

This study uses molecular dynamics to explore how classical Heisenberg spins in a finite cubic lattice freeze from the edges inward, revealing a unique multi-domain ground state driven by dipole interactions and finite size effects.

Contribution

It uncovers a peculiar edge-to-interior spin freezing process in a dipolar cube, highlighting the role of anisotropic long-range interactions and finite-size effects.

Findings

Edge spins freeze ferromagnetically near bulk transition temperature.

Domains grow from edges inward with short-range order.

System reaches a multi-domain ground state at low temperature.

Abstract

By molecular dynamics simulation, we have investigated classical Heisenberg spins, which are arrayed on a finite simple cubic lattice and interact with each other only by the dipole-dipole interaction, and have found its peculiar it from-Edge-to-interior freezing process. As the temperature is decreased, spins on each edge predominantly start to freeze in a ferromagnetic alignment parallel to the edge around the corresponding bulk transition temperature, then from each edges grow domains with short-range orders similar to the corresponding bulk orders, and the system ends up with a unique multi-domain ground state at the lowest temperature. We interpret this freezing characteristics is attributed to the anisotropic and long-range nature of the dipole-dipole interaction combined with a finite-size effect.