Canted ground states and the paramagnetic-antiferromagnetic transition in semiconductor zinc-blende antiferromagnets.

Abstract

Group-theoretical techniques are used to analyse the paramagnetic-antiferromagnetic transition in β-MnS and zinc-blende MnTe, which are both thought to undergo a transition to a canted antiferromagnetic ground state. Although the canting angle itself has remained inaccessible to experiment, the magnetic transition is known to be first order. To date, canting angles of 0, π/2, π, 3π/2 have been analysed theoretically and found to exhibit first-order transitions. The theoretical analysis is, here, completed for arbitrary canting angles in the hopes of finding and then ruling out any canting angles that give rise to a second-order transition