Vibrational Dynamics Studies by Nuclear Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering

Nuclear resonant inelastic X-ray scattering of synchrotron radiation is being applied to ever widening areas ranging from geophysics to biophysics and materials science. Since its first demonstration in 1995 using the ⁵⁷Fe resonance, the technique has now been applied to materials containing ⁸³Kr, ¹⁵¹Eu, ¹¹⁹Sn, and ¹⁶¹Dy isotopes. The energy resolution has been reduced to under a millielectronvolt. This, in turn, has enabled new types of measurements like Debye velocity of sound, as well as the study of origins of non-Debye behavior in presence of other low-energy excitations. The effect of atomic disorder on phonon density of states has been studied in detail. The flux increase due to the improved X-ray sources, crystal monochromators, and time-resolved detectors has been exploited for reducing sample sizes to nano-gram levels, or using samples with dilute resonant nuclei like myoglobin, or even monolayers. Incorporation of micro-focusing optics to the existing experimental setup enables experiments under high pressure using diamond-anvil cells. In this article, we will review these developments. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Amorphous Fe–Mg alloy thin films: magnetic properties and atomic vibrational dynamics

Amorphous (a-) Fe _x Mg_1?x alloys are interesting materials for the investigation of non-Debye-like low-energy vibrational excitations. We have prepared a-Fe _x Mg_1?x alloy thin films (0.3 ≤ × ≤0.7) by vapour quenching. The amorphous state was confirmed by conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy between 4.2–300 K, and the x- and temperature-dependence of the isomer shift and hyperfine magnetic field was measured. For x= 0.6 and 0.7, magnetic ordering occurs below ~150 K. The atomic vibrational density of states, g(E), was determined by nuclear resonant inelastic scattering, providing clear evidence for the non-Debye-like low-energy vibrational excitations.     

Time‐integrated energy domain measurements with synchrotron radiation

A new time integrated method for the study of resonant nuclear scattering of synchrotron radiation in the forward direction or in Bragg directions is introduced. This method gives in principle similar information as the well known time differential method. A brief comparison of both methods is presented. The idea is to excite coherently the nuclei incorporated in two absorbers, one moving with respect to the other. The fields radiated by the nuclei from both absorbers interfere and each time the nuclear energy in one absorber matches, by Doppler modulation, the nuclear energy of the other, an extremum in the time integrated intensity is observed. The results of the first experiments at the Advanced Photon Source at the Argonne National Laboratory will be presented. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Monochromatization of synchrotron radiation for nuclear resonant scattering experiments

An introduction to monochromatization of synchrotron radiation in the energy range of 5–30 keV is presented for applications involving nuclear resonant scattering. The relevant relationships of the dynamical theory of Xray diffraction are used to explain basic concepts of monochromatization. These relations are combined with raytracing techniques to design highenergyresolution monochromators. Transmissionoptimized and energyresolutionoptimized designs that achieve high energy resolutions (10⁶)< E/E < 10⁸) are discussed separately. Practical silicon monochromators of both types are presented for a variety of nuclear resonances in this energy range.     

Nuclear resonant scattering beamline at the Advanced Photon Source

The principal and engineering aspects of a dedicated synchrotron radiation beamline under construction at the Advanced Photon Source for nuclear resonant scattering purposes are explained. The expected performance in terms of isotopes to be studied, flux, and timing properties is discussed.This work is supported by the US-DOE-BES Materials Sciences, under Contract No. W-31-109-ENG-38.     

Atomic Vibrational Dynamics of Thin Films Studied by Nuclear Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering: Amorphous Tb1−x Fe x Alloys

Hyperfine Interactions - Nuclear resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (NRIXS) of 14.4125 keV synchrotron radiation was used to measure directly the partial vibrational density of states (VDOS),...     

161Dy Time‐Domain Synchrotron Mössbauer Spectroscopy for Investigating Single‐Molecule Magnets Incorporating Dy Ions

Time‐domain synchrotron Mössbauer spectroscopy (SMS) based on the Mössbauer effect of ¹⁶¹Dy has been used to investigate the magnetic properties of a Dy^III‐based single‐molecule magnet (SMM). The magnetic hyperfine field of [Dy(Cy₃PO)₂(H₂O)₅]Br₃?2 (Cy₃PO)?2 H₂O?2 EtOH is with B₀=582.3(5) T significantly larger than that of the free‐ion Dy^III with a ⁶H_15/2 ground state. This difference is attributed to the influence of the coordinating ligands on the Fermi contact interaction between the s and 4f electrons of the Dy^III ion. This study demonstrates that ¹⁶¹Dy SMS is an effective local probe of the influence of the coordinating ligands on the magnetic structure of Dy‐containing compounds.     

Phonon density of states in epitaxial FE/CR(0 0 1) superlattices

Incoherent nuclear resonant absorption of synchrotron radiation at the 14.413 keV nuclear resonance of ⁵⁷Fe was employed to measure directly the Fe-projected (partial) phonon density of states (DOS) in epitaxial FeCr(0 0 1) superlattices and in an ⁵⁷Fe_0.03Cr_0.97(0 0 1) alloy film MBE-grown on MgO(0 0 1). The measurements were performed at 300 K with 2.3 meV energy resolution around 14.413 keV. At the interfaces, longitudinal vibrations of Fe atoms are suppressed, and a strong resonance phonon mode appears near 23 meV. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.