Low-Temperature Properties of Ising Antiferromagnet on a Stacked Triangular Lattice

Abstract

An Ising antiferromagnet on a stacked triangular lattice in zero field is studied by Monte Carlo simulations, focusing on the character of the low-temperature phase and the effect of the relative strength of the exchange interaction in the stacking direction {\alpha}. Our results support the presence of the 3D Wannier phase, with the sublattice magnetization structure (m, -m, 0) and power-law decaying m with the lattice size. The extent of this low-temperature phase shrinks with decreasing {\alpha}, however, it appears even at very low values if it is accessed from higher temperatures by sufficiently slow cooling.