  Inelastic light scattering spectra of several members of the RFe3(BO3)4
family reveal a cascade of phase transitions as a function of temperature,
starting with a structural, weakly first order, phase transition followed by
two magnetic phase transitions. Those consist of the ordering of the Fe-spin
sublattice revealed by all the compound, and a subsequent spin-reorientational
transition for GdFe3(BO3)4. The Raman data evidence a strong coupling between
the lattice and magnetic degrees of freedom in these borates. The Fe-sublattice
ordering leads to a strong suppression of the low energy magnetic scattering,
and a multiple peaked two-magnon scattering continuum is observed. Evidence for
short-range correlations is found in the `paramagnetic' phase by the
observation of a broad magnetic continuum in the Raman data, which persists up
to surprisingly high temperatures.
