Effect of magnetic field on noncollinear magnetism in classical bilinear-biquadratic Heisenberg model

Abstract

We present a Monte Carlo simulation study of a bilinear-biquadratic Heisenberg model on a two-dimensional square lattice in the presence of an external magnetic field. The study is motivated by the relevance of this simple model to the non-collinear magnetism and the consequent ferroelectric behavior in the recently discovered high-temperature multiferroic, cupric oxide (CuO). We show that an external magnetic field stabilizes a non-coplanar magnetic phase, which is characterized by a finite ferromagnetic moment along the direction of the applied magnetic field and a spiral spin texture if projected in the plane perpendicular to the magnetic field. Real-space analysis highlights a coexistence of non-collinear regions with ferromagnetic clusters. The results are also supported by simple variational calculations.