The Effect of Mn<sup>3+</sup> Substitution on the Electric Field Gradient in a HoFe<sub>1−<i>x</i></sub>Mn<sub><i>x</i></sub>O<sub>3</sub> (<i>x</i> = 0–0.7) System
Yuriy V. Knyazev,
Maksim S. Pavlovskii,
Timofei D. Balaev,
Sergey V. Semenov,
Stanislav A. Skorobogatov,
Aleksey E. Sokolov,
Denis M. Gokhfeld,
Kirill A. Shaykhutdinov
Affiliations
Yuriy V. Knyazev
Kirensky Institute of Physics, Federal Research Center “Krasnoyarsk Science Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences”, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia
Maksim S. Pavlovskii
Kirensky Institute of Physics, Federal Research Center “Krasnoyarsk Science Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences”, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia
Timofei D. Balaev
Kirensky Institute of Physics, Federal Research Center “Krasnoyarsk Science Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences”, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia
Sergey V. Semenov
Kirensky Institute of Physics, Federal Research Center “Krasnoyarsk Science Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences”, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia
Stanislav A. Skorobogatov
Kirensky Institute of Physics, Federal Research Center “Krasnoyarsk Science Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences”, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia
Aleksey E. Sokolov
Kirensky Institute of Physics, Federal Research Center “Krasnoyarsk Science Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences”, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia
Denis M. Gokhfeld
Kirensky Institute of Physics, Federal Research Center “Krasnoyarsk Science Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences”, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia
Kirill A. Shaykhutdinov
Kirensky Institute of Physics, Federal Research Center “Krasnoyarsk Science Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences”, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia
The effect of the Mn3+ ion on the local distortions of FeO6 octahedra in orthoferrite samples was investigated. Mössbauer spectroscopy measurements for a series of HoFe1−xMnxO3 (x = 0–0.7) orthoferrite samples with the space group Pnma were carried out at temperatures above the Néel point (700 K). The electric field gradient (EFG) tensor on Fe ions for these compounds was found using first-principle calculations. The concentration dependence of quadrupole splitting was obtained using experimental and theoretical data. Mn3+ cations were found to affect the Mössbauer spectra mainly due to distortions of the crystal lattice. Theoretical calculations show that the values of all electric field gradient components increase significantly with the manganese concentration in the system, and the eigenvectors exx and eyy of the electric field gradient tensor sharply change their direction at concentrations of x > 0.1.
