Synthesis-dependent local structure in holmium orthoborate HoBO3

We propose a neutron total scattering experiment on two samples of HoBO3 synthesised differently, one quenched and one annealed, including a variable-temperature study. This experiment is a continuation of RB2010022 which revealed disorder in the boron and oxygen positions and coordination numbers in a series of LnBO3 samples (Ln = Y, Tb, Ho, Er, Yb). The aim of the present proposal is to gather supporting evidence for our hypothesis that the disorder observed previously was caused by the synthesis method.