Mössbauer study of structural inhomogeneities formed upon the FCC–L10 transformation in equiatomic FePd alloy from different initial states

A comparative Mössbauer study of structural inhomogeneities that arise in the course of А1→ L1₀ phase transformation in nondeformed (as cast and quenched from 950°C and melt-spun from the ingot) and severely deformed samples of equiatomic FePd alloy upon ordering annealing at Т?=?450°С has been performed. According to the known experimental works, the chosen temperature of annealing is optimal for achieving the highest coercive force H_c in both quenched and deformed samples. It is shown that in the high-coercivity state both quenched and deformed samples FePd possess an inhomogeneous tetragonal structure, which is preserved even after quite a prolonged (40–100?h) annealing. All the samples contain, along with the configurations of the nearest neighbourhood that are assigned to the ordered L1₀ phase, significant volume fractions of configurations typical of nonequiatomic compositions. This conclusion is inconsistent with the commonly accepted concept on single-phase L1₀ type alloys with maximal values of H_c. An inference is made that the structural inhomogeneities detected in the samples under study result from the mismatch of the position of the point of congruent А1→ L1₀ transformation (≈58 at.% Pd) in the phase diagram of the FePd system to equiatomic composition.     

Magnetic properties of metallic glasses of the type Fe80−x Pd x B20 and Fe80−x Pt x B20

Amorphous alloys of the type Fe_80???xPd_xB₂₀ and type Fe_80???xPt_xB₂₀ for 0?≤?x?≤?50 have been investigated by means of ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy and magnetisation measurements in temperatures from 4.2 up to 300 K. Curie temperatures and crystallisation temperatures are found by DTMG-DTA method. Mössbauer spectroscopy magnetic field is observed to visible increase for x?=?1 and 1.5% at room temperature for Pd, while a decrease is observed for higher x values. Curie temperature for Pd alloys has a maximum at x?=?4 with T _C?=?753 K, which supports enforcing influence of Pd at low concentrations of Pd for magnetic interactions. We discuss different explanations for these measurements and compare with other findings for high Pd concentrations and alloys with Pt instead of Pd.     

Mössbauer study of the martensitic transformation in a Ni–Fe–Ga shape memory alloy

We present the results of an extensive Mössbauer study of the magnetic and martensitic transformation at room temperature of a polycrystalline alloy with a Ni₅₅Fe₁₉Ga₂₆ nominal composition. From calorimetric measurements, we have determined the martensitic transformation temperature of T _M ≈ 240 K, in good agreement with the one obtained by magnetic characterization. This sample has a Curie temperature of T _C ≈ 287 K. Additional Curie temperatures, belonging to a γ phase, have been also detected. Mössbauer spectroscopy performed at different temperatures monitored all these transformations and the fitting of the obtained spectrum at the highest temperature allow us to give percentages of the different phases in the sample.     

Mössbauer study of hyperfine field relaxations in soft magnetic amorphous alloys

Superimposed asymptotic exponential relaxation between 125 and 200°C of average hyperfine inductions and their orientations were detected by the⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy in the ferromagnetic Fe₄₀Ni₄₀B₂₀ and Fe₇₀Co₁₀B₂₀ amorphous alloys. From their Arrhenius type temperature dependence, average activation enthalpies ΔH were derived in agreement with the resistometric and coercivity data. The interpretation is proposed in terms of individual irreversible processes: stress relief, free volume shrinking and short-range ordering.     

Mössbauer study of Fe−Zr amorphous alloys hydrogenated at different cathodic potentials

Mössbauer spectroscopy was used for studying the effect of hydrogenation on amorphous Fe₉₀Zr₁₀ and Fe₈₉Zr₁₁ alloys electrolytically charged to high hydrogen content. The differences observed between the room temperature Mossbauer spectra of uncharged and hydrogenated amorphous alloys can be attributed to a change in the Curie temperature. Up to a certain hydrogen content the Curie temperature increases with the hydrogen concentration while the Curie temperature goes thorough a maximum as the hydrogen content increases.     

Mössbauer spectroscopy of Fe-based nanomaterials

X-ray diffraction, magnetic measurements and Mössbauer spectroscopy were used to study magnetic properties and hyperfine interaction parameters of nanocrystalline (< 10 nm) and bulk bcc Fe, Fe₉₀Ge₁₀, and Fe₇₇Al₂₃ alloys. It has been established that nanocrystalline state does not influence the formation of specific saturation magnetization, Curie temperature, isomer shift and hyperfine magnetic field. No additional sextets in Mö ssbauer spectra as well as special features in temperature dependences of a.c. magnetic susceptibility have been found. A slight increase (～ 20%) of the width of the nanocrystalline Fe Mössbauer spectral lines has been observed.     

Mössbauer study of Fe70Cr10C10P10 rapidly quenched alloys

Mössbauer spectroscopy was used to study rapidly quenched Fe₇₀Cr₁₀C₁₀P₁₀ amorphous alloys in order to get information about the effect of some preparation parameters on the structure and properties of the alloys. The results indicate that the Mössbauer spectroscopy can sensitively detect changes with quenching rate in these amorphous alloys. The average magnetic field decreases with increasing thickness of the samples. This cooling rate effect was compared with low temperature relaxation changes of the aged thin samples.     

Mössbauer study of 1/8 anomaly in La2−x Ba x CuO4

The measurements of Mössbauer effect, magnetic susceptibility and muon spin relaxation have been carried out for the high-T _c superconductor La_2?x Ba _x CuO₄. The intensity of Mössbauer doublet spectrum of the sample of x～1/8 begins to decrease rapidly at a certain temperature T _m, which we define as a magnetic transition temperature T _Möss. This temperature almost agrees with T _μSR determined from muon spin relaxation. The quadrupole doublet disappears at low temperature below T _m but a clearly splitted spectrum is not observed even at 4.2 K, which indicates a peculiar magnetic state with a wide distribution of internal magnetic field. Around x～1/8, the superconducting critical temperature T _c and T _m are competed each other. In conclusion, superconductivity disappears around 1/8 hole concentration and a peculiar magnetic state such as spin density wave appears.     

Effect of Mn on the magnetic properties of Fe3B/Nd2Fe14B nanocomposites

The magnetic properties of Nd_4.5Fe_77−xMn_xB_18.5 (x=0, 1 and 2) nanocomposites prepared by the crystallization of amorphous precursors were investigated. Addition of Mn is found to decrease the crystallization temperature of the amorphous ribbons. The intrinsic coercivity _iH_c and maximum energy product (BH)_max increase from 2.6 kOe and 9.1 MGOe for x=0 to 3.1 kOe and 10.3 MGOe for x=1, respectively, and the remanence ratio M_r/M_s increases from 0.70 to 0.72. The effect of Mn on Curie temperature T_C and the thermal stability of M_r and _iH_c were also studied. ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectra have been recorded for x=0, 1 and 2 ribbons at room temperature and site preference of the Mn atoms in Fe₃B and Nd₂Fe₁₄B phases is discussed using the Mössbauer spectroscopy.     

Magnetic properties of amorphous rare-earth—Iron alloys

The magnetic properties of various amorphous alloys of the type R_1-xFe_x (R = Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Lu) have been determined in the concentration range 0.3 ? x ? 0.5. With the exception of the Gd and Lu alloys pronounced thermomagnetic history effects were observed in the temperature dependence of the magnetization. These effects are due to a strong temperature dependence of the coercive force (H_c) which is found to obey an exponential law of the form H_c ∞ exp(-αT). ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectra were obtained on the alloys of a composition close to 40 at% Fe. From the combined results of the Mössbauer spectroscopy and magnetic measurements it is derived that the Fe moment decreases if one passes through the rare-earth series. It is postulated that this decrease is due to small differences in the compositional short-range order in the amorphous alloys caused by the heat of mixing becoming more negative in the same sense.     

Evidence of Clustering in Heusler like Ferromagnetic Alloys

Two Heusler like alloys Fe₂CrAl, and Mn₂CoSn had been prepared and studied using the Mössbauer effect. Both these alloys were ferromagnetic in nature. Their Mössbauer spectra showed the co-existence of a paramagnetic portion along with magnetic hyperfine part upto temperatures well below their Curie temperatures. Low temperature Mössbauer spectra for both these alloys showed a steady variation in the intensity of the paramagnetic portion. X-ray diffraction studies made on these samples ruled out the possibilities of a separate phase. Explanation of the observed phenomena is given by clustering around the magnetic ions present in these samples.     

Influence of hydrogenation on the electronic structure and the itinerant-electron metamagnetic transition in strong magnetocaloric compound La(Fe0.88Si0.12)13

The influence of interstitial hydrogen on the electronic structure and the itinerant-electron metamagnetic (IEM) transition in strong magnetocaloric compound La(Fe_0.88Si_0.12)₁₃H_1.6 has been investigated by Mössbauer spectroscopy. A slight change in the average hyperfine field at 4.2 K was observed after hydrogen absorption. In contrast, the thermally induced first-order transition related to the IEM transition for y=1.6 appears at the Curie temperature T_C=330 K, much higher than T_C=195 K for y=0.0. The increase of isomer shift δ_IS at 4.2 K indicates that the valence electron transfer from hydrogen to Fe is negligibly small, hence the change in the magnetic state is closely associated with a volume expansion after hydrogen absorption. No change in shape by hydrogenation for the Mössbauer spectra in the paramagnetic state has been observed except for a difference in only δ_IS, indicating the volume expansion by hydrogenation is isotropic. Accordingly, the significant increase of T_C by hydrogen absorption is attributed to the magnetovolume effect associated with characteristic feature in IEM compounds. A discontinuous change of ferromagnetic moment, ΔM, around T_C has been observed by Mössbauer spectra, as expected from the magnetization measurement. The value of ΔM is slightly decreased by increase of T_C after hydrogenation but its magnitude is almost the same due to the stabilization of ferromagnetic moment. As a result, strong magnetocaloric effect is maintained up to room temperature after hydrogenation.     

169Tm Mössbauer effect and magnetic study of Tm6Mn23 and its ternary hydride

The magnetic properties and the lattice constants of Tm₆Mn₂₃ were determined before and after hydrogen absorption. The compound Tm₆Mn₂₃ is ferrimagnetic with an ordering temperature T_c = 404 K. After hydrogen absorption the magnetization is strongly reduced and does not point to the occurrence of magnetic ordering. The strongly increasing hyperfine splitting observed by means of ¹⁶⁹Tm Mössbauer spectroscopy in the hydride for temperature below 60 K, however, shows that the Tm sublattice becomes magnetically ordered after H₂ absorption as well. In uncharged and charged Tm₆Mn₂₃ the values of the Tm moments are close to the free ion values.     

Impurity effect of Me=Cr,Nb or Mn third component atoms on hyperfine interactions in ordered Ni3Fe alloy

Investigations of atomic ordering in Ni₃Fe, Ni₃(Fe, Nb), Ni₃(Fe,Cr) and Ni₃(Fe, Mn) alloys at room temperature in disordered and ordered states have been carried out by Mössbauer spectroscopy method. The experimental results confirm that in case of Ni₃Fe superstructure stabilization is achieved by Nb and Mn atoms, the Cr atoms disturb this structure.     

Mössbauer investigation of Fe−Zr amorphous alloys hydrogenated after annealing

Transmission and conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy were used in order to get further information bout thé effect of hydrogenation in Fe₈₉Zr₁₁ amorphous alloys in connection with the observation that the magnetically split spectrum appearing at room temperature due to a moderate hydrogenation gradually collapses with increasing hydrogen content. The Mössbauer measurements were performed on differently hydrogenated amorphous samples aged at 150 °C 300 °C and 600 °C before the hydrogenation. The time dependence of hydrogenation has also been measured. From the changes of Mössbauer parameters depending on the annealing temperature as well as on the cathodic potential of hydrogenation (compared with the hydrogen concentration measured by gas chromatography) we can conclude that relaxation processes and structural changes, taking place in these amorphous alloys, influence the hydrogen uptake, already at relatively low temperatures.     

Nanocrystallization process and ferromagnetic properties of amorphous (Fe0.99Mo0.01)78Si9B13 ribbons

The nanocrystallization process of soft ferromagnetic (Fe_0.99Mo_0.01)₇₈Si₉B₁₃ ribbons has been studied in detail. Microstructural and ferromagnetic properties are examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Mössbauer spectroscopy (MS), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and magnetization measurements. The Curie and crystallization temperatures are determined to be T_C=665 K and T_x=750 K, respectively. The T_x value is in well agreement with DSC measurement results. XRD patterns had shown two metastable phases (Fe₂₃B₆, Fe₃B) which were formed under in situ nanocrystallization process. These metastable phases embedded in the amorphous matrix have a significant effect on magnetic ordering. The ultimate nanocrystalline (NC) phases of α-Fe(Mo, Si) and Fe₂B at optimum annealing temperature had been observed respectively. It is notable that the magnetization of the amorphous phase decreases more rapidly with increasing temperature than those of NC ferromagnetism, which suggest the presence of the distribution of exchange interaction in the amorphous phase or high metalloid contents.     

Mössbauer study on the magnetic field-induced insulator-to-metal transition in perovskite Eu0.6Sr0.4MnO3

We have investigated the spin dynamics of a distorted perovskite Eu_0.6Sr_0.4MnO₃ by means of Mössbauer spectroscopy. Below 70 K the exchange interaction grows gradually, and below 42 K the spins turn into a cluster glass state. The magnetic field-induced insulator-to-metal (IM) transition at low temperature is a transition from cluster glass to ferromagnet. The induced metallic phase seems to be still in non-uniform electronic state. On the other hand, at 80 K, just above T _c of the induced ferromagnet, a metamagnetic transition was observed.     

Mössbauer study of annealing induced structural changes in Fe30Ni48Mo2Si5B15 metallic glasses

The effects of prolonged annealing on magnetic properties of a-Fe₃₀Ni₄₈Mo₂Si₅B₁₅ are investigated by means of Mössbauer spectroscopy and Curie temperature, coercive field and spontaneous magnetization measurements. The observed changes of investigated magnetic characteristics indicate that prolonged annealing produces considerable changes in the local short range order around the magnetic atoms.     

Multiferroic and exchange bias in La0.85Sr0.15FeO3−δ perovskite nanoparticles

Multiferroic and exchange bias was observed in La_0.85Sr_0.15FeO_3?δ nanoparticles sample which was prepared by co-precipitation method. These nanoparticles have an average size of about 18.49?nm and orthorhombic phase (Pbnm) with small impurities. The anomalous peaks of the dielectric as a function of temperature indicate that the Neel temperature at T_N?=?321?K and a ferroelectric to paraelectric transition at T_C?=?555?K which confirmed by differential scanning calorimetric (DSC). The dielectric response at low frequency is dominated by Debye relaxation behaviour and the resonance behaviour is dominated above 1.7?GHz. Mössbauer spectrum revealed the presence of magnetic ordering temperature (T_N) lies above room temperature (RT). Moreover, the oxygen deficient (δ?=?0.038) was calculated from Mössbauer spectrum. The hysteresis loop (B-H) of the nanoparticle sample exhibits exchange bias as a result of the exchange coupling at the interface between the ferromagnetic surface with canted spins and the antiferromagnetic core of the particles.     

57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy studies of Sr2Fe1−x Cr x Mo1−x W x O6 double perovskite compounds

Polycrystalline double perovskites Sr₂Fe_1?x Cr _x Mo_1?x W _x O₆ with x = 0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20, and 0.30 have been prepared by sold state reactions. A continuous decrease of the tetragonal unit cell parameters α and c with increasing x values is observed. The highest Curie temperature T _C = 426 K is recorded for the x = 0.10 compound. ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy measurements indicate a non-integral electronic configuration of ～3d^5.3 for the Fe ions at the ordered double perovskite structure for x ≤ 0.20, which reaches ～3d^5.4 for x = 0.30. Fe–Mo/W anti-site and anti-phase boundary defects are observed in all samples in equal concentrations of around 3% of the total number of Fe ions in their structure.