When no external field is applied, the antiferromagnetic structure corresponds to a vanishing total magnetization. In an external magnetic field, a kind of ferrimagnetic behavior may be displayed in the antiferromagnetic phase, with the absolute value of one of the sublattice magnetizations differing from that of the other sublattice, resulting in a nonzero net magnetization. Although the net magnetization should be zero at a temperature of absolute zero, the effect of spin canting often causes a small net magnetization to develop, as seen for example in hematite.
The magnetic susceptibility of an antiferromagnetic material typically shows a maximum at the Néel temperature. In contrast, at the transition between the ferromagnetic to the paramagnetic phases the susceptibility will diverge. In the antiferromagnetic case, a divergence is observed in the staggered susceptibility.
Various microscopic (exchange) interactions between the magnetic moments or spins may lead to antiferromagnetic structures. In the simplest case, one may consider an Ising model on a bipartite lattice, e.g. the simple cubic lattice, with couplings between spins at nearest neighbor sites. Depending on the sign of that interaction, ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic order will result. Geometrical frustration or competing ferro- and antiferromagnetic interactions may lead to different and, perhaps, more complicated magnetic structures.
The relationship between magnetization and the magnetizing field is non-linear like in ferromagnetic materials. This fact is due to the contribution of the hysteresis loop, which for ferromagnetic materials involves a residual magnetization.