In situ Mössbauer studies of vapor quenched Ag/Fe and Au/Fe films

Metastable alloys of Ag_1-xFe_x (x=0.17, 0.30, 0.50, 0.54, 0.56 and 1.0) and the stable Au_1-yFe_y (y=0.18 and 0.25) alloy were prepared as thin films by vapor quenching method on low temperature kapton substrate. The X-ray diffraction spectra of all Ag/Fe samples. withx<-0.56, have indication of fee structure with very small grain size. The present work reports in-situ Mössbauer results on Ag/Fe and Au/Fe films. The spectra obtained are characteristic of homogeneous disordered alloy with broad magnetic hyperfine field distribution. Aging effect inducing cluster formation was observed in Ag/Fe films after they were heated to room temperature, but this behavior was not detected in Au/Fe samples.