EFFECT OF NONSTOICHIOMETRY ON THE MAGNETIC AND ELECTRICAL-PROPERTIES OF SYNTHETIC SINGLE-CRYSTAL FE2.4TI0.6O4

A single crystal of titanomagnetite Fe2.4Ti0.6O4 (TM60) was synthesized using the floating zone technique. The Curie temperature, saturation magnetization at 5 K, and thermopower were measured for several pieces of the crystal as grown and following high temperature annealing at different oxygen fugacities within the stability field of the TM60. The magnetic and electrical data indicate that long-range ordering in TM60 is a function of nonstoichiometry with higher cation vacancy concentrations producing a more random cation distribution. This effect may explain the differences among cation distribution models for TM developed previously by other workers.