Cation distribution in Eu-Sc-Fe garnets

The cation distribution has been studied with ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy in the garnet system Eu_3?ySc_2+yFe₃O₁₂ with y = 0.0, 0.2 and 0.5. It is shown that the previously proposed cation distribution is not correct. The problem of possible impurities in the investigated system is discussed in detail. Several possible cation distributions are considered compatible with Mössbauer data. Mössbauer results combined with the composition dependence of lattice constants show that the tetrahedral sites are accessible to Sc³⁺ ions. The system studied is a second example of a garnet structure in which Sc³⁺ ions are found at the tetrahedral sites. A small fraction of Sc³⁺ ions for the samples y = 0.2 and 0.5 is also found at the dodecahedral sites.