Quantum nucleation in ferromagnets with tetragonal and hexagonal symmetries

Abstract

The phenomenon of quantum nucleation is studied in a ferromagnet in the presence of a magnetic field at an arbitrary angle. We consider the magnetocrystalline anisotropy with tetragonal symmetry and that with hexagonal symmetry, respectively. By applying the instanton method in the spin-coherent-state path-integral representation, we calculate the dependence of the rate of quantum nucleation and the crossover temperature on the orientation and strength of the field for a thin film and for a bulk solid. Our results show that the rate of quantum nucleation and the crossover temperature depend on the orientation of the external magnetic field distinctly, which provides a possible experimental test for quantum nucleation in nanometer-scale ferromagnets.

19 pages and 3 figures, Final version and accepted by Phys. Rev. B (Feb. B1 2001)