Frustrated mixed spin-1/2 and spin-1 Ising ferrimagnets on a triangular lattice

Abstract

Mixed spin-1/2 and spin-1 Ising ferrimagnets on a triangular lattice with sublattices A, B and C are studied for two spin value distributions $(S_{\rm A},S_{\rm B},S_{\rm C})=(1/2,1/2,1)$ and $(1/2,1,1)$ by Monte Carlo simulations. The non-bipartite character of the lattice induces geometrical frustration in both systems, which leads to the critical behavior rather different from their ferromagnetic counterparts. We confirm second-order phase transitions belonging to the standard Ising universality class occurring at higher temperatures, however, in both models these change at tricritical points (TCP) to first-order transitions at lower temperatures. In the model $(1/2,1/2,1)$, TCP occurs on the boundary between paramagnetic and ferrimagnetic $(\pm 1/2,\pm 1/2,\mp 1)$ phases. The boundary between two ferrimagnetic phases $(\pm 1/2,\pm 1/2,\mp 1)$ and $(\pm 1/2,\mp 1/2,0)$ at lower temperatures is always first order and it is joined by a line of second-order phase transitions between the paramagnetic and the ferrimagnetic $(\pm 1/2,\mp 1/2,0)$ phases at a critical endpoint. The tricritical behavior is also confirmed in the model $(1/2,1,1)$ on the boundary between the paramagnetic and ferrimagnetic $(0,\pm 1,\mp 1)$ phases.