Magnetic properties of the finite-length biatomic chains in the framework of the single domain-wall approximation

Abstract

A simple analytical method for study the magnetic properties of the finite-length biatomic chains in the framework of Heisenberg model with uniaxial magnetic anisotropy is proposed. The method allows to estimate the reversal time of the magnetization of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic biatomic chains. Three cases are considered: the spontaneous remagnetization, the remagnetization under the interaction with a scanning tunneling microscope, and the remagnetization in the external magnetic field. The applicability limits of the method are discussed. Within its limits of applicability the method gives results which are in perfect agreement with the results of the kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. As the examples, two physical systems are considered: biatomic Fe chains on Cu2N/Cu(001) surface and biatomic Co chains on Pt(997) surface. The presented method is incomparably less time-consuming than the standard kMC simulations, especially in the cases of low temperatures or long chains.