Weak antiferromagnetic superexchange interaction in fcc C60Hn

Abstract

A recent density-functional calculation for fcc C60Hn (n = odd) [ K.W. Lee and C. E. Lee, Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 166402 (2011)] proposed the existence of Stoner ferromagnetism based on an itinerant band model. However, our density-functional calculation shows that the antiferromagnetic (AFM) configuration is slightly more stable than the ferromagnetic (FM) one. This preference for antiferromagnetism over ferromagnetism is analogous to the case of a dimer (C60H)(2), where each C60H is spin polarized by an intramolecular exchange and the two magnetic moments are antiferromagnetically coupled with each other. The results demonstrate that the underlying mechanism of the magnetic order in fcc C60Hn is associated with the AFM superexchange between the magnetic moments created by H dopants.