An approach to specify the spin configuration in the RFe2O4 (R=Y,Ho,Er,Tm,Yb, and Lu) family: 57Fe Moessbauer study on a single crystal LuFe2O4

Polarized 57Fe Moessbauer spectroscopy was applied to a stoichiometric single crystal LuFe2O4 in order to determine the spin configuration of Fe ions. The compound is one of the RFe2O4 (R=Y, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu) family, which show some characteristics of a two-dimensional antiferromagnet on a triangular lattice. The antiferromagnet is composed of positive and negative ferrimagnetic domains. It was concluded that among three types of Fe3+ ions, two of them contribute to the minority spins and the rest to the majority spin in a domain. All Fe2+ ions contribute to the majority spins. The spin configuration is consistent with that suggested by the previous investigations. (orig.)