Published April 2009 | Version v1
Journal article

Ferroelectricity from ordering of Fe valences in the rare-earth ion oxides RFe2O4 (R=Y, Ho-Lu)

  • 1. Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Quantum Beam Science Directorate, Sayo, Hyogo (Japan)
  • 2. Okayama Univ., Faculty of Science, Okayama (Japan)
  • 3. Osaka Prefecture Univ., Graduate School of Science, Sakai, Osaka (Japan)
  • 4. Osaka Prefecture Univ., Graduate School of Engineering, Sakai, Osaka (Japan)

Description

The rare-earth iron oxides RFe2O4 (R=Y, Ho-Lu) have a rhombohedral crystal structure, consisting of an alternating stacking of triangular lattices of R, Fe and O ions. Recently, we have proposed that this system shows a new mechanism of ferroelectricity; the ferroelectric state originates from a polar charge-ordered structure of Fe2+ and Fe3+ on a triangular lattice. In this article, a review is given on the details of this ferroelectricity, which were revealed by measurements of synchrotron X-ray diffraction and dielectric properties of one of the RFe2O4 oxides, LuFe2O4. (author)

Additional details

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Nippon Kessho Gakkai-Shi
Journal Volume
51
Journal Issue
2
Journal Page Range
p. 162-168
ISSN
0369-4585

Optional Information

Notes
25 refs., 8 figs.