Model for elastic relaxation phenomena in finite 2D hexagonal molecular lattices.

The relaxation in a spin transition compound is modeled on the basis of molecules interacting by the way of connecting springs and situated in a bidimensional open boundary hexagonal lattice. The switch of individual molecules is randomly checked using a standard Monte Carlo procedure. The switching probability depends on the energy gap between the two states in the absence of interactions and on the elongations of the nearest springs. The main characteristics of the experimental relaxation curves are reproduced and clustering and nucleation phenomena are detected.