Magnetic properties of indium-substituted orthoferrites

Single crystals of indium-substituted yttrium and dysprosium orthoferrites were obtained by the method of spontaneous crystallization from a solution in a melt. As the indium concentration was increased in the yttrium orthoferrite, the transverse weakly ferromagnetic moment and the anisotropy constant in the ac crystallographic plane were found to increase. A change in the nature of the spin-reorientational transition of the Morin type is observed in the indium-substituted sysprosium orthoferrite, but, in contrast to substitution by gallium, aluminum, and scandium ions, the giant effect of the nonmagnetic impurity on the temperature of the indicated transition does not occur. Based on the results of the magnetic measurements it was concluded that the indium ions in the rare-earth orthoferrites prefer positions occupied by the rare-earth ions