Role of the Surface Energy for the Formation of the Domain Structure at Magnetoelastic Phase Transition

The formation of the domain structure during magnetic ordering in the pure antiferromagnet with the rotational (non-180°) domains can be treated as thermodynamically preferable if the free energy of the sample is minimized with the account of surface energy. The analogy between the role of magnetostatic energy in ferromagnets and surface energy of antiferromagnet is traced. The behavior of the domain structure and macroscopic strain tensor in the external magnetic field is investigated.