Stoichiometric YFe2O4−δ single crystals grown by the optical floating zone method

We report the growth, by the optical floating zone method of YFe2O4−δ single crystals, showing for the first time the same magnetization as highly stoichiometric (δ=0.00) powder samples and sharp superstructure reflections in single crystal X-ray diffraction. The latter can be attributed to three dimensional long-range charge ordering. Resonant X-ray diffraction at the Fe K-edge with full linear polarization analysis was used for the investigation of the possibility of orbital order.