Anomalous local lattice disorder and distortion in A2Mo2O7 pyrochlores

We present an extended X-ray absorption fine structure study of the pyrochlores A2Mo2O7 (A ¼ Gd, Dy, Ho, Er), as a function of temperature. While in the three spin-glass compositions Dy2Mo2O7, Ho2Mo2O7 and Er2Mo2O7 the Debye temperatures are in accordance with other pyrochlores and the static disorder contributions are compatible with a lattice frustration, in the low-temperature-ferromagnetic Gd2Mo2O7 system we point out an anomalous enhancement of the local structure disorder below about 225 K down to low temperatures. Moreover, considering the general pyrochlore predisposition towards structural disorder, we prove the presence on a local scale of at least a bimodal distribution of the Mo-O(1) octahedral interatomic distances for all the studied compounds, consisting of two shorter and four longer bond lengths. Our results suggest that the local structure order parameter plays an important role in the ferromagnetic or spin-glass phase stabilization.We gratefully acknowledge the Spanish CRG at the ESRF for providing beamtime under experiment HC-2414. F.R.-M. is also indebted to MINECO for a ‘Ramon y Cajal’ contract (ref: RyC-2015- 18626), which is co-financed by the European Social Fund 2014-20. G.L. thanks M. Lucaccini and G. Tavilla for their valuable technical support and C. Robustelli for the supply of cryogenic liquids during the magnetization measurements