Abstract
In this paper, we report on structural, magnetic, Mössbauer spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) studies of the Mn4−xFexNb2O9 compounds. Temperature dependent magnetization measurements have shown that the paramagnetic to antiferromagnetic transition temperatures, TN, depend non-linearly on the Fe doping level x, which is different from earlier studies on similar compounds of Mn4−xCoxNb2O9. More interestingly, our Mössbauer spectroscopy measurements have revealed preferential occupation of the 3d transition metal ions, namely, the Fe(Mn) atoms prefer to occupy the highly buckled M-II(relative flat M-I) site, which can be well understood by the band mixing behavior from our DFT calculations. These results are expected to be important for a better understanding of the rich physics of this family of compounds, especially when one concerns the interpretation of experimental results of similar mixing compounds.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
