Slow dynamics of interacting antiferromagnetic nanoparticles

We study magnetic relaxation dynamics, memory and aging effects in interacting polydisperse antiferromagnetic NiO nanoparticles by solving a master equation using a two-state model. We investigate the effects of interactions using dipolar, Nearest-Neighbour Short-Range (NNSR) and Long-Range Mean-Field (LRMF) interactions. The magnetic relaxation of the nanoparticles in a time-dependent magnetic field has been studied using LRMF interaction. The size-dependent effects are suppressed in the ac-susceptibility, as the frequency is increased. We find that the memory dip, that quantifies the memory effect is about the same as that of non-interacting nanoparticles for the NNSR case. There is a stronger memory-dip for LRMF, and a weaker memory-dip for the dipolar interactions. We have also shown a memory effect in the Zero-field-cooled magnetization for the dipolar case, a signature of glassy behaviour, from Monte-Carlo studies.