We have studied the correlation between the structural distortion and the electronic/magnetic properties in single-crystalline (Lu,Sc)Fe2O4 (Sc=0.05 and 0.3) by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), magnetic susceptibility, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS)/x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD)measurements. The Rietveld structure analysis of the XRD patterns revealed that the Sc substitution induced an elongation of the FeO5 bipyramidal cages in LuFe2O4 and increased the Fe2O4 bilayer thickness. A non-negligible decrease in the ferrimagnetic transition temperature TC is observed in the magnetic susceptibility curve of the Sc=0.3 sample, but the XAS/XMCD spectra do not show any difference except for a small reduction of dichroism signals at the Fe3+ absorption edge. We interpret this suppression of TC to be the result of a decreased spin-orbit coupling effect in the Fe2+e1g doublet under D3h symmetry, which is induced by the weakened structural asymmetry of the FeO5 bipyramids.
@article{arxiv.1402.1685,
title = {Effects of Structural Distortion Induced by Sc Substitution in LuFe$_2$O$_4$},
author = {Jinwon Jeong and Han-Jin Noh and Sung Baek Kim},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1402.1685},
year = {2015}
}