MAGNETIC-BEHAVIOR OF SMALL VANADIUM CLUSTERS

The electronic structure of small vanadium clusters is systematically studied as a function of the interaction parameters and cluster size with a bcc-like structure. For each topological arrangement, various possible magnetic states are considered and the transition from nonmagnetic to magnetic order is characterized. The average magnetic moment and the individual magnetic moments are determined self-consistently with the Hubbard tight-binding Hamiltonian. The magnetic behavior of vanadium clusters is very different from that of the bulk. However, some specific trends for cluster magnetism emerge. For the configurations studied, the average magnetic moment stays within a small set of values, whereas the local magnetic moments are very sensitive to the variation of the interparticle distance. A small magnetic moment in clusters is obtained for interatomic distances much smaller than the bulk distance.