Magnetic collapse in yttrium iron garnet Y3Fe5O12 at high pressure

The effect of high pressures up to 70 GPa on single-and polycrystalline samples of yttrium iron garnet Y₃ ⁵⁷Fe₅O₁₂ is studied by Mössbauer absorption spectroscopy (for the ⁵⁷Fe nucleus) in a diamond-anvil cell. It is found that the hyperfine magnetic field H _hf at ⁵⁷Fe nuclei vanishes abruptly at a pressure of 48 ± 2 GPa, which indicates the transition of the crystal from the ferrimagnetic state to nonmagnetic one. The magnetic transition is irreversible. When the pressure decreases, the magnetic state is not recovered and the garnet remains nonmagnetic until zero pressure. The behavior of the quadrupole splitting and isomer shift shows that, simultaneously with the magnetic transition, irreversible electron and possibly spin transitions occur with changes in the local crystalline structure. The mechanisms of the magnetic collapse are discussed.