119Sn Mössbauer study of the implantation behaviour of119In,119Sn,119mSn,119Sb and119mTe ions in SiC

The implantation behaviour of stable¹¹⁹Sn⁺ ions and radioactive¹¹⁹In⁺,^119mSn⁺,¹¹⁹Sb⁺ and^119mTe⁺ ions in SiC has been investigated by, respectively, conversion-electron Mössbauer spectroscopy on the 24 keV transition of¹¹⁹Sn, and by Mössbauer emission spectroscopy on the 24 keV radiation emitted by the¹¹⁹Sn daughter after the decays of the radioactive isotopes. The Mössbauer spectra could be decomposed in most cases into two groups of lines, one originating from¹¹⁹Sn atoms on substitutional Si sites, the other from various Sn-vacancy complexes distinguished by their Mössbauer parameters. Annealing experiments reveal a strong dependence of the structure of the defects and the formation and annealing kinetics on the chemical nature of the impurities. Defects formed in 297 K implantations with^119mSn and¹¹⁹Sb anneal above 500 C, resulting in a preferential location of the impurities on substitutional Si sites, whereas^119mTe atoms are efficient defect-trapping centres and no stable, substitutional fraction is observed on either lattice site. Possible structures for the Sn-vacancy complexes are discussed and comparison is made to similar defect complexes in group IV and in III–V semiconductors.     

Mössbauer study of isothermally annealed amorphous Fe-Nb-Cu-Si-B alloys

Amorphous ribbons of Fe_73.5Nb₃Cu₁Si_13.5B₉ have been annealed above the crystallization temperature. Annealed samples consisted of crystalline and amorphous phases in a wide temperature range. Two samples of different thicknesses of 33 µm and 27 µm were isothermally annealed at a temperature of 545°C from 0.5 to 5 h in a vacuum furnace. The amount of crystalline phase increases rapidly in the ticker sample. The crystalline part of the Mössbauer spectrum consists of four sharp sextets which can be assigned to a DO₃-structure FeSi alloy. After 700°C annealing the amorphous phase was not observed and the crystalline phase consisted of the DO₃-structure FeSi alloy, paramagnetic FeNbB and presumably Fe₂₃B₆ and Fe₃SiB₂.     

Interpretation of the 119Sn Mössbauer parameters

The variations of the ¹¹⁹Sn Mössbauer isomer shift δ are interpreted for tin compounds from a semi-empirical tight-binding calculation of the electronic density at the nucleus ρ(0). A molecular model is proposed in order to relate the variations of ρ(0) for the Sn(IV) chalcogenides to the changes in the Sn environment. The variations of the experimental values of the quadrupole splitting δ are linearly correlated to the values of the electric field gradients (EFG) calculated by the full-potential linearized-augmented-plane-wave (FP-LAPW) method. The value of the ¹¹⁹Sn nuclear quadrupole moment is found to be |Q| = 10.5 ± 0.2 fm². Finally, the relation between the EFG and the Sn environment is discussed for SnO.     

Mössbauer study of rapidly solidified Al-Fe based amorphous alloys

Mössbauer spetroscopy and X-ray diffraction were used to study the structure of rapidly quenched Al₈₈Fe₅Y₇, Al₈₈Fe₄Y₇Sb₁ and Al₉₃Fe₅Sb₂ alloys. Sb addition diminishes the glass forming ability and results in precipitation of the stable AlSb compound. The X-ray amorphous Al₈₈Fe₅Y₇ alloy shows a short range order resembling to the Al₆Fe compound as it can be judged from the Mössbauer data.     

Mössbauer study of tektites

Room temperature ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy has been used to investigate the structural and oxidation state of Fe in tektites from different strewn fields. Spectra have been analyzed in terms of two quadrupole splitting distributions corresponding to Fe^3?+? and Fe^2?+?. All tektites show similar distribution of quadrupole splitting. Each distribution has one peak. The Fe^2?+? sites show a narrow region of Mössbauer line shift (δ) and quadrupole splitting (ε), δ?= 1.02–1.10 mm/s and ε?= 0.85–1.00 mm/s relative to α-Fe. These values have been assigned to intermediate coordination between tetrahedral and octahedral. The Fe^3?+? sites show wider regions of hyperfine parameters: δ?= 0.25–0.45 mm/s and ε?= 0.65–0.90 mm/s. The Fe^3?+?/Fe^2?+? ratio was found to be 0.05–0.15.     

Magnetism of ErAgSn studied by 119Sn Mössbauer spectroscopy

Antiferromagnetic ErAgSn compound was investigated in detail by ¹¹⁹Sn Mössbauer spectroscopy in a temperature range between 2.2 and 300 K. The ¹¹⁹Sn spectra recorded below 4.2 K can be well fitted with a single main magnetic component in agreement with recent neutron diffraction studies [1]. A broad distribution of magnetic hyperfine fields observed above 4.2 K and enhanced spin correlations among Er³⁺ ions at T > T _N = 5.6 K are the remarkable features of the investigated system.     

Mössbauer study of the Cu-Zn alloy system

Using the 93.3keV transition in⁶⁷Zn, the Lamb-Mössbauer factor, the electron density and the electric field gradient at the Zn nucleus have been determined for pure Zn metal, the ^–, ^–, ^–, and -phases as well as pure Cu metal.     

Mössbauer study of Hungarian phlogopites

Ultramafic xenoliths of mantle origin occur in Hungarian Cretaceous lamprophyres. The aim of the present work was to determine the iron positions and their occupancy in phlogopites originated from ultramafic xenoliths by the help of Mössbauer spectroscopy. On the basis of the evaluation of the Mössbauer spectra Fe _M1 ²⁺ , Fe _M2 ²⁺ , Fe _M2 ³⁺ and Fe _M1 ³⁺ (or in some cases Fe_tet) octahedral and tetrahedral iron sites were identified in the samples. Quantitative analysis was performed for all of the iron sites. We have observed large differences between the Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺ ratio in samples originated from 120–150 km deepness, which phlogopites having been existed at different erosion circumstances. We have found a significantly higher Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺ ratio in phlogopites which had been solidified in 120–150 km depth from the surface of Earth 70–100 million years ago, than those had been crystallized in 60–80 km deepness.     

Mössbauer study of Slovak meteorites

⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy was used as an analytical tool in the investigation of iron containing compounds of two meteorites (Rumanová and Ko?ice) out of total of six which had fallen on Slovak territory. In the magnetic fraction of the iron bearing compounds in the Rumanová meteorite, maghemite, troilite and Fe-Ni alloy were identified. In the non-magnetic fraction silicate phases were found, such as olivine and pyroxene. The paramagnetic component containing Fe^3?+? ions corresponds probably to small superparamagnetic particles. The Ko?ice meteorite was found near the town of Ko?ice in February 2010. Its magnetic fraction consists of a Fe-Ni alloy with the Mössbauer parameters of the magnetic field corresponding to kamacite α-Fe(Ni, Co) and troilite. The non-magnetic part consists of Fe^2?+? phases such as olivine and pyroxene and traces of a Fe^3?+? phase. The main difference between these meteorites is their iron oxide content. These kinds of analyses can bring important knowledge about phases and compounds formed in extraterrestrial conditions, which have other features than their terrestrial analogues.     

Mössbauer study of natural wolframites

Natural Wolframite, (Fe _x Mn_1?x )WO₄ withx=0.95 to 0.41, obtained from seven different sites of two quartz-wolframites deposits of Degana and Sirohi in Rajasthan. India, have been studied by Mössbauer spectroscopy down to 20 K. X-ray diffraction studies with a monochromatic Cu radiation (λK_a-1.5405 Å), were carried out to determine the value ofx. The Mössbauer spectra of all seven samples were recored at 300, 200, 100, 50, 40, 30 and 20 K, and were least square fitted for different sites. The Mössbauer parameters are attributed to a high spin ferrous ion in a quite distorted octahedral symmetry, and only one sextet has been resolved below transition temperature.     

Mössbauer study of Brazilian soapstone

Steatite mineral rocks, soapstone, have been studied by X-ray diffraction, optical microscopic analysis (modal analysis), electron probe micro analysis and Mössbauer spectroscopy for characterization, mineral percentages and chemical composition. Mössbauer spectra show both, magnetic interactions corresponding to magnetite and doublets corresponding to talc. chlorite, dolomite and tremolite. The temperature dependence of the quadrupole splitting in dolomite has been explained in terms of crystal field interaction.     

A Mössbauer spectral study of the Jilin meteorite

The iron57 Mössbauer spectra of three different samples of the Jilin meteorite have been measured at 78 and 295 K. Five iron containing major components are identified, two magnetic components, kamacite and troilite, and three nonmagnetic components, olivine, pyroxene, and an iron(III) component. The relative absorption areas of these five components show that sample A contains a larger fraction of magnetic components, ca. 50 percent, than samples B and C, which contain ca. 30 percent. This difference indicates a significant compositional inhomogeneity in the Jilin meteorite. The fit of the troilite component sextet is extensively discussed in the paper and requires the adjustment of not only the isomer shift and hyperfine field, but also of the quadrupole interaction, the asymmetry parameter of the electric field gradient tensor, and the orientation of the hyperfine field in the principal axes of the electric field gradient tensor. The smaller isomer shift and hyperfine field of the kamacite mineral in sample B indicate that this sample contains less nickel than the kamacite in samples A and C, in which the amount of nickel is estimated to be ca. 9 percent. On the basis of its hyperfine parameters, the iron(III) component is assigned to iron(III) substituted on the M1 site of pyroxene.     

Mössbauer study of119Sn defects in silicon from ion implantations of radioactive119In

Radioactive¹¹⁹In⁺ ions (T _1/2=2.1 min) obtained from the ISOLDE facility at CERN have been implanted into silicon single crystals at room temperature. Mössbauer emission spectra from the 24 keV -radiation of the daughter¹¹⁹Sn have been measured by fast resonance-counting technique. Five independent lines, characterized by their hyperfine parameters and Debye temperatures, have been found in the spectra. From the bonding configurations, deduced for the Sn impurity atoms, these are concluded to be located in four different defects in the silicon lattice. Simple models are proposed for the defects.     

Mössbauer study of Fe-Re alloys prepared by mechanical alloying

The room temperature Mössbauer spectra of ⁵⁷Fe were measured for nanocrystalline iron-based solid solutions Fe _1?x Re _x , prepared by mechanical alloying with x in the range 0.01 ≤ x ≤ 0.04. The obtained data were analysed in terms of the binding energy E _b between two rhenium atoms in the Fe-Re system. The extrapolated value of E _b for x = 0 was used for computation of enthalpy of solution of rhenium in iron. The result was compared with that resulting from the cellular atomic model of alloys by Miedema as well as with value, derived from proper data for Fe-Re solid solutions obtained by melting in an arc furnace. From the comparison it follows that our findings are in agreement with the Miedema’s model predictions and previous Mössbauer studies.     

Mössbauer study of sediment alteration produced by heat treatment

Pincenvent (France) cooking-place silt-like sediments have been studied by using Mössbauer spectroscopy and characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD). The sediments were treated at 400, 600, 800 and 1000°C under oxidizing conditions. We discuss the results and we suggest a Mössbauer thermometer to be used to recognize the temperatures and atmosphere ancient people used in their cooking-places.Fellow of CONICET, Argentina, on leave, Laboratoire d'Ethnologie Prehistorique, 44 Rue de L'Almiral Mouchez, 75014 Paris, France.     

Determination of the change of nuclear charge radius of the119Sn Mössbauer transition by internal conversion

Radioactive¹¹⁹Sb was implanted into six host matrices (CaSnO₃, Pt, Y, Au,-Sn, Pb) and internal conversion electrons of the 23.87 keV transition in¹¹⁹Sn were measured with an iron-free magnetic spectrometer as well as Mössbauer spectra. In the analysis of the conversion spectra of outermost electrons, the overlapping K-LM Auger lines were subtracted using the Auger spectrum of tin measured with another source of^117mSn, and the shake-off effect accompanying the conversion process was considered. From the correlation between the Mössbauer isomer shifts and the intensity ratios of O-shell to N₁-shell conversion electrons, the change of the nuclear charge radius of the 23.87 keV transition of¹¹⁹Sn was deduced to be R/R=(0.87 ± 0.25) × 10^–4 for a uniform charge distribution ofR= 1.2 ×A ^1/3 fm or, equivalently, r²>—=(3.6 ± 1.0) ×10^–3 fm².