Abstract
Mn K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge spectra (XANES) and magnetic studies for ferroelectromagnetic compounds RMnO 3 (R = Sc, Y) are reported. ScMnO 3 shows stronger d-p hybridization with a triangular antiferromagnetic (AF) order of T N = 133 K and a spin reorientation T sr = 23 K, as compared to T N = 74 K for YMnO 3 . The identical main threshold edge energy of 6545 eV indicates Mn 3+ character. Small pre-edge features with energy separation P 2 -P 1 of 2.27 eV for ScMnO 3 and 2.72 eV for YMnO 3 is from the 1s-3d dipole transition, which is weakly allowed through the hybridization of Mn 4p with 3d states of neighboring Mn atoms. The larger P 1 peak is corresponding to transition into empty e′↓ and e″↓ minority states, and the smaller P 2 peak is into leftover e′↓ states. © 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.