Investigation of possible phase transition of the frustrated spin-1/2 J1-J2-J3 model on the square lattice

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 7; no. 1
• Main Authors: Hu, Ai-Yuan, Wang, Huai-Yu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 05.09.2017
• Subjects: 639/766/119/2795; 639/766/530/2795; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-10986-8

The frustrated spin-1/2 J 1 - J 2 - J 3 antiferromagnet with exchange anisotropy on the two-dimensional square lattice is investigated. The exchange anisotropy is presented by η with 0 ≤  η  < 1. The effects of the J 1 , J 2 , J 3 and anisotropy on the possible phase transition of the Néel state and collinear state are studied comprehensively. Our results indicate that for J 3  > 0 there are upper limits J 3 c and η c values. When 0 <  J 3  ≤  J 3 c and 0 ≤  η  ≤  η c , the Néel and collinear states have the same order-disorder transition point at J 2  =  J 1 /2. Nevertheless, when the J 3 and η values beyond the upper limits, it is a paramagnetic phase at J 2  =  J 1 /2. For J 3  < 0, in the case of 0 ≤  η  < 1, the two states always have the same critical temperature as long as J 2  =  J 1 /2. Therefore, for J 2  =  J 1 /2, under such parameters, a first-order phase transition between the two states for these two cases below the critical temperatures may occur. When J 2  ≠  J 1 /2, the Néel and collinear states may also exist, while they have different critical temperatures. When J 2  >  J 1 /2, a first-order phase transition between the two states may also occur. However, for J 2  <  J 1 /2, the Néel state is always more stable than the collinear state.