Metastable antiphase boundary ordering in CaFe$_{2}$O$_{4}$

Abstract

CaFe2O4 is an S = 5/2 antiferromagnet exhibiting two magnetic orders which shows regions of coexistence at some temperatures. Using a Green's function formalism, we model neutron scattering data of the spin wave excitations in this material, ellucidating the microscopic spin Hamiltonian. In doing so, we suggest that the low temperature A phase order (↑↑↓↓) finds its origins in the freezing of antiphase boundaries created by thermal fluctuations in a parent B phase order (↑↓↑↓). The low temperature magnetic order observed in CaFe2O4 is thus the result of a competition between the exchange coupling along c, which favors the B phase, and the single-ion anisotropy which stabilizes thermally-generated antiphase boundaries, leading to static metastable A phase order at low temperatures.