Experimental evidence of the ferrimagnetic ground state of Sr2FeMoO6 probed by X-ray magnetic circular dichroism

We have investigated the magnetic structure of a Sr2FeMoO6 single crystal by X-ray magnetic circular dichroism at the L-2,L-3 edges of Fe and Mo sites. The spin magnetic moments we find on Fe (3.05mu(B)) and Mo (-0.32mu(B)) give, for the first time, a direct confirmation of their ferrimagnetic ordering. The presence of a finite spin moment on Mo together with only very small orbital moments on both Fe and Mo confirms that the predicted half-metallicity of the Sr2FeMoO6 compound is due to a configuration with five localized d electrons forming a high-spin moment on Fe and one s antiparallel delocalized electron shared between the Mo and the other sites.