Characterization of the reorientation transition in classical Heisenberg models with dipole interaction

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the reorientation transition in thin ferromagnetic films, modeled by classical Heisenberg models with dipole interactions, depends on layers and anisotropy distribution through theoretical and simulation methods.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the reorientation transition's order in ferromagnetic films considering layer number and anisotropy distribution using mean field theory and Monte Carlo simulations.

Findings

The order of the reorientation transition varies with the number of layers.

Distribution of anisotropies influences the transition behavior.

Mean field theory and Monte Carlo simulations agree on key aspects.

Abstract

In this paper the thermodynamics of thin ferromagnetic films are studied in the framework of the classical Heisenberg model with uniaxial anisotropy and long--range dipole interaction. The dependence of the order of the reorientation transition in these systems on the number of layers and on the distribution of anisotropies is investigated using both mean field theory and Monte-Carlo simulations.