Ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic properties in layered structures (La0.6Nd0.4Mn2Si2)

Abstract Temperature dependences of the magnetization (ferromagnetic) and the staggered magnetization (antiferromagnetic) are analyzed for various ferromagnetic (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AF) phases of the layered structure of La 0.6 Nd 0.4 Mn 2 Si 2 using the experimental data at a constant magnetic field of 50 Oe. For this analysis, a mean field model with the quadratic coupling between the magnetization (FM) and the staggered magnetization (AF) is considered and the expressions derived from the mean field model for the magnetization and the staggered magnetization, are fitted to the experimental data. Our results indicate that the quadrupole–quadrupole interactions for the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic spin configurations play a dominant role to describe the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic properties of the layered structure of La 0.6 Nd 0.4 Mn 2 Si 2 .