Determination of Cation Distribution in Mn–Zn–Fe Ferrite by X-Ray Anomalous Scattering

Site preferency of cations in Mn–Zn–Fe ferrite, Mn0.54Zn0.35Fe2.11O4, has been investigated using spherical single crystals with synchrotron X-rays. The anomalous scattering effect was applied to diffraction experiments in a four-circle diffractometry at wavelengths of 1.7535 and 1.2934 Å which are 0.01 Å longer than FeK- and ZnK-absorption edges, respectively. The two-wavelengths anomalous dispersion (TWAD) method allowed us to determine the cation distributions accurately with a large difference in atomic scattering factors. The result shows that all Mn and Zn ions fully occupy the tetrahedral A sites within the experimental errors, suggesting that Mn–Zn–Fe ferrite has the crystal structure of a typical normal spinel. The chemical formula is [Mn0.54Zn0.34Fe0.12]A[Zn0.01Fe1.99]BO4. The cell dimension anduparameter area=8.4727±0.0006 Å andu=0.2609±0.0002, respectively.