  Electronic and magnetic (e-m) properties of FeBr2 have been surprisingly well
described as originating from the Fe2+ ions and their fine electronic
structure. The fine electronic structure have been evaluated taking into
account the spin-orbit (s-o) coupling, crystal-field and inter-site
spin-dependent interactions. The required magnetic doublet ground state with an
excited singlet at D=2.8 meV results from the trigonal distortion. This effect
of the trigonal distortion and a large magnetic moment of iron, of 4.4 mB, can
be theoretically derived provided the s-o coupling is correctly taking into
account. The obtained good agreement with experimental data indicates on
extremaly strong correlations of the six 3d electrons in the Fe2+ ion yielding
their full localization and the insulating state. These calculations show that
for the meaningful analysis of e-m properties of FeBr2 the spin-orbit coupling
is essentially important and that the orbital moment (0.74 mB) is largely
unquenched (by the off-cubic trigonal distortion in the presence of the
spin-orbit coupling).
