Investigation of magnetic structure evolution in the substitutional solid solution ScxLu(1-x)MnO3

The hexagonal series AMnO3 (A = Lu, Sc) (space group: P63cm) is an excellent model system for the investigation of magnetic frustration as the magnetic sublattice is made up of edge sharing triangles with nearest neighbour antiferromagnetic exchange. At low temperatures the Mn3+ moments form a 120° long range ordered state. In LuMnO3 (TN=91 K) the magnetic moments are in the ab-plane and perpendicular to the hexagonal axis, whereas ScMnO3 (TN=130 K) undergoes an in-plane spin-reorientation transition below T=70 K. Powder neutron diffraction experiments for the substitutional solid solution ScxLu(1-x)MnO3 (0.0≤x≤1.0) show the evolution of the spin-reorientation as a function of x.