Antiferromagnetism

<p>In materials that exhibit antiferromagnetism, the <a href="/facts/Magnetic_moment/VpAQKJtr">magnetic moments</a> of <a href="/facts/Atom/69syB8dH">atoms</a> or <a href="/facts/Molecule/N9ljSfFq">molecules</a>, usually related to the spins of <a href="/facts/Electron/L0KBo5cW">electrons</a>, align in a regular pattern with neighboring <a href="/facts/Spin_(physics)/4Jvp7e8P">spins</a> (on different sublattices) pointing in opposite directions. This is, like <a href="/facts/Ferromagnetism/fH3HFnSl">ferromagnetism</a> and <a href="/facts/Ferrimagnetism/sMcg7RYt">ferrimagnetism</a>, a manifestation of ordered <a href="/facts/Magnetism/eo75vApl">magnetism</a>. The phenomenon of antiferromagnetism was first introduced by <a href="/facts/Lev_Landau/lNXQTC49">Lev Landau</a> in 1933.
</p><p>Generally, antiferromagnetic order may exist at sufficiently low temperatures, but vanishes at and above the <a href="/facts/N%25C3%25A9el_temperature/ygotSuMg">Néel temperature</a> – named after <a href="/facts/Louis_N%25C3%25A9el/urLYTCav">Louis Néel</a>, who had first identified this type of magnetic ordering. Above the Néel temperature, the material is typically <a href="/facts/Paramagnetism/vj1SMbbp">paramagnetic</a>.
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Antiferromagnetism open-in-new

Antiferromagnetism