Super transfer in doped LaFeO3

The effects of doping the orthoferrite LaFeO₃ with Ga, Ni, Cr, Sc and Al on the hyperfine fields at the⁵⁷Fe nuclei are investigated and discussed. The dependence of the magnetic hyperfine field at 4.2 K on the kind of nearest neighbour can be described in terms of a supertransfer model based upon the LCAO method.     

Local spin correlations in partially frustrated amorphous Fe-Mn

Mössbauer measurements in a-(Fe_0.765Mn_0.235)₇₈Sn₂Si₆B₁₄ have been performed with⁵⁷Fe and¹¹⁹Sn. Both hyperfine fields show a kink near 70 K, indicating a freezing of the transverse spins. The ratio of the two hyperfine fields contains information about the correlation of the transverse spins. The ratioB _hf(Sn)/B _hf(Fe) stays constant aboveT _xy and rises belowT _xy . This indicates an alignment of the transverse spins on a local scale, as was also found inAuFe and a-FeZr.     

Local magnetic properties of ultrathin ferromagnetic fcc-Fe-films on Cu(001)

Conversion electron Mössbayer spectroscopy (CEMS) on three monolayers (ML) thick metastable fcc-Fe(001) films grown epitaxially on a Cu(001) substrate under different conditions shows that these films are characterized by a distributionP(B _hf) of magnetic hyperfine fieldsB _hf. The vast majority of⁵⁷Fe nuclei experience relatively large hyperfine fields at low temperature. The temperature dependence of the most probable fieldB _peak was found to follow aT ^3/2 spin-wave law below 300 K. It is shown from the relative line intensities that preferential Fe spin orientation perpendicular to the film plane exists in films grown at 120 K, while preferential in-plane spin orientation is found for a growth temperature of 300 K. Coating a low-temperature grown Fe film by 2 ML of Cu(001) drastically reduces the hyperfine field, in contrast to the case of room-temperature grown Cu-coated films.Dedicated to Professor Ulrich Gonser on the occasion of his 70th birthday     

Mössbauer and PAC studies of nanocrystalline Fe

High-purity Fe powder was mechanically milled under argon at ambient temperature using an SPEX 8000 mill. The local atomic and magnetic structure was studied using⁵⁷Co/Fe Mössbauer and¹¹¹In/Cd perturbed angular correlations (PAC) spectroscopies. After 32 hours of milling, X-ray diffraction revealed effective grain diameters of 18 nm and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis indicated a Cr impurity concentration of 5%, presumably introduced by mechanical attrition of steel ball bearings used for milling. In addition to a spectral component very similar to bulk iron metal, the Mössbauer spectra exhibited hyperfine field shifts attributed to the Cr impurities. PAC spectra on Fe milled for 5 h, with no contamination, exhibited two components: (1) A slightly broadened magnetic interaction attributed to interior, defect-free sites of In/Cd probes with a mean hyperfine field slightly greater than in macroscopic grains. The defect-free site fraction grew appreciably during milling, even though In is essentially insoluble in Fe. (2) An indistinct signal due to mixed magnetic and quadrupole interactions attributed to probes at surface or other defect sites.     

The magnetic hyperfine field at Cu in Fe,Co and Ni and the magnetic moment of the 41 keV, 2+ state of62Cu

The magnetic hyperfine interaction of Cu in Fe, Co and Ni was studied by means of the γ-γ perturbed angular correlation method using⁶²Zn(⁶²Cu) as a probe. With the publishedg-factor (g=+0.661(12)) of the 41 keV, 2⁺ state hyperfine fields ofB _HF=16.95(51) T,B _HF=13.15(41) T andB _HF=4.05(30) T atT=0 K for Cu in Fe, Co and Ni are derived, respectively. The systematic discrepancy of these values with several independent measurements of these hyperfine fields is removed by deriving a new value ofg=0.55(5) for the 41 keV, 2⁺ state of⁶²Cu.     

Ball milling of Fe40Ni40P20-xSix (x = 6, 10 and 14): production and characterization

Progress in the ball milling amorphization of elemental powders with the overall composition Fe₄₀Ni₄₀P_{20 ? x}Si_x (X = 6, 10 and 14) and thermally induced crystallization of obtained alloys were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction and transmission Mössbauer spectroscopy (TMS). Diffusion of Si into Fe and Ni alloys promotes the formation of the amorphous phase, via previous formation of (Fe, Ni) phosphides. After milling for 32–64 h, most of the powders are amorphous but bcc Fe(Si) crystallites remain (about 5% in volume). TMS results indicate that homogenization of the amorphous phase occurs by interdiffusion of Ni and Fe in Fe(Si,P)-rich and Ni(Si,P)-rich zones respectively. Annealing induces structural relaxation of stresses induced by milling, growth of bcc Fe(Si) crystallites, precipitation of bcc Fe(Si) and fcc Ni–Fe, and minor phases of Ni-rich silicides and (Fe, Ni) phosphides. The main ferromagnetic phase is bcc Fe(Si) for Fe₄₀Ni₄₀P₁₀Si₁₀ powders obtained after milling for 32 h. However, it is fcc Fe–Ni for the same alloy after milling for 64 h. In the later powders, as well as for alloys with x = 6 and 14 milled for 32 h, the fcc Fe–Ni shows the Invar magnetic collapse.     

Hyperfine interactions of interstitial12B in Fe,V and Ta studied by use of the asymmetric β decay

Magnetic hyperfine fields and spin-lattice relaxation times of interstitial and substitutional¹²B nuclei in Fe are studied in a temperature range, 100 K<T<1200 K, by use of the asymmetric decay from the spin polarized nuclei and NMR detection. In order to infer information regarding the location of¹²B nuclei and expansion in the nearest Fe surrounding following recoil implantation, hyperfine interactions of¹²B in non-magnetic bcc V and Ta crystals are studied.     

Mössbauer study of iron-doped lithium niobate

From Mössbauer spectra of LiNbO₃⁵⁷Fe(III) single crystals under external fields of 4.92 and 6.2 T, the crystal field and hyperfine parameters are determined. Transmission integral fits indicate a Boltzmann population of the Fe(III) electronic levels with a spin temperature equal to the sample temperature. Spectra at external fields of 0 T and 19 mT can be satisfactorily simulated using an effective spin 1/2,g-factors calculated from spin-expectation values and an internal averaged dipole field of 5.5 mT inclined 20 to thec-axis. The simulations indicate cross-relaxation between Nb and Li nuclear spins and the Fe(III) electronic spin.     

Mössbauer study of spin states in amorphous Fe100−x Zr x alloys

Spin states in amorphous Fe_100–x Zr_x (7x12) are investigated using hyperfine field distributions (HFDs) as derived from⁵⁷Fe transmission Mössbauer experiments. The existence of low-, medium- and high-spin states is demonstrated by three-dimensional projections of HFDs. Temperature dependences of the corresponding average values revealed anomalous behaviour in the vicinity ofT _fc. An increase in the hyperfine magnetic fields observed towards low temperatures is discussed in terms of a ferromagnet-to-spin-glass transition. Utilizing also theT _c values, which were obtained from a thermal scanning Mössbauer technique, we propose a diagram of spin states in amorphous Fe-Zr.     

Microstructure of supersaturated fcc Al–Fe alloys: A comparison of rapidly quenched and mechanically alloyed Al98Fe2

Alloys of the composition Al₉₈Fe₂ have been prepared by rapid quenching from the melt and mechanical alloying methods and have been studied by Xray diffraction techniques and room temperature ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer effect methods. Results may be summarized as follows: The rapidly quenched sample is a single phase supersaturated fcc Al–Fe alloy. Mössbauer effect spectra indicate the presence of a substantially greater degree of Fe clustering than is expected for a random distribution of atoms on the lattice sites. Mechanically alloyed samples have been studied as a function of milling time and show the initial formation of a supersaturated fcc phase with microstructural properties which are quite similar to those of the rapidly quenched sample. Further milling results in the reduction of the average grain size and the formation of an amorphous phase. Mössbauer studies and previously reported phase diagrams suggest that a substantial fraction of the Fe resides in this phase.     

A theoretical study of the hyperfine fields of Fe and Co in ferromagneticbcc Fe x Co1−x

The hyperfine fields of Fe and Co in the substitutionally disorderedbcc alloy system Fe _x Co_1−x due to the Fermi contact interaction have been studied by means of charge self-consistent cluster Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker-Coherent Potential Approximation- (KKR-CPA) band structure calculations. The contribution to the Fermi contact hyperfine field due to core polarisation was found to be proportional to the local moment for Fe as well as for Co throughout the concentration range. On the other hand, the contributions of the conduction band did not show such a simple behavior, but were found to be dominated by the population of the s-bands for spin up and down. These findings are completely analogous to those obtained in a recent study of the ferromagnetic alloy systems Fe _x Ni_1−x and Fe _x Cr_1−x . To investigate the importance of relativistic effects on the Fermi contact hyperfine fields, the corresponding hyperfine matrix elements have been calculated nonrelativistically as well as fully relativistically. The results of the present work are compared with experiment as well as to theoretical data on related alloy systems.     

Measurements of magnetic moments of Tc isotopes and the hyperfine field of Tc in Fe and Ni

We report measurements of nuclear magnetic resonance on oriented nuclei (NMR-ON) on⁹⁴Tc (I=7⁺,T _1/2=4.9 h),⁹⁵Tc (I =9/2⁺,T _1/2=20 h) and⁹⁶Tc (I =7⁺,T _1/2=4.3 d) in Fe and on⁹⁵Tc and⁹⁶Tc in Ni. In order to elucidate the discrepancies on the hyperfine field of TcFe in the literature, the resonances were measured with high precision as a function of the external magnetic field B_ext up to 2.0 T. In addition, TDPAC measurements were performed on⁹⁹TcFe at T=300 K and 13 K. TheT=0 K hyperfine fields of Tc in Fe and Ni were determined to be –314(3) kG and –51.8(5) kG, respectively. The g-factors of⁹³Tc,⁹⁴Tc,⁹⁵Tc,⁹⁶Tc and⁹⁹Tc(E=181 keV;I =5/2⁺) are redetermined as g(⁹³Tc)=1.405(14), g(⁹⁴Tc)=0.731(7),g(⁹⁵Tc)=1.321(13), g(⁹⁶Tc)=0.727(7), g(⁹⁹Tc)=1.390(17).We wish to thank E. Smolic and G. Seewald for experimental help. This work was funded by the German Federal Minister for Research and Technology (BMFT) under the contract number 06TM353/TP 4, by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) under the contract numbers Ha 1282/3-1,2, and, partly, by the Kernforschungszentrum, Karlsruhe.     

Hyperfine interactions in nanocrystallized NANOPERM-type metallic glass containing Mo

NANOPERM-type alloy with chemical composition Fe₇₆Mo₈CuB₁₅ was studied by combination of ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy and ⁵⁷Fe(¹⁰B, ¹¹B) nuclear magnetic resonance in order to determine distribution of hyperfine magnetic fields and evolution of relative concentration of Fe-containing crystalline phases within the surface layer and the volume of the nanocrystallized ribbons with annealing temperature. Differential scanning calorimetry revealed two crystallization stages at T_x1 ～ 510 ^°C and T_x2 ～ 640 ^°C, connected to precipitation of α-Fe and Fe(Mo,B) nanocrystals, respectively. The amorphous and partially crystalline state was obtained by annealing at several temperatures in the range 510-650 ^°C. The combination of conversion electron (CEMS) and transmission Mössbauer spectrometry (TMS) showed that annealing induces crystallization starting from both surfaces of the ribbons. For the as-quenched sample, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and CEMS revealed significant differences in the “air” and “wheel” sides of the ribbons, crystallites were preferentially formed at the latter. While SEM micrographs of annealed samples showed various mean diameters of the crystals at opposite sides of the ribbons, the amounts of crystalline volume derived from the CEMS spectra approximately equaled. Mössbauer spectra of annealed samples contained narrow sextet ascribed to crystalline α-Fe phase, three sextets with distribution of hyperfine field assigned to the interface regions of the nanocrystals and the contribution of the amorphous phases. In-field TMS performed at 4.2 K with magnetic moments aligned by external magnetic field enabled to properly determine in particular the contribution of the amorphous phases in the samples. Resulting distributions of the hyperfine fields were compared with ⁵⁷Fe(¹⁰B, ¹¹B) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra.     

Pressure evolution of the EFG and magnetic hyperfine field in the layered antiferromagnet FeI2

When FeI₂ is subjected to pressures of up to 20 GPa, a change of approximately 20% occurs in the unit cell volume.⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy (MS) in a diamondanvil cell has been used to monitor the pressure evolution of the hyperfine interaction parameters of this layered antiferromagnetic insulator. The pressure dependence of the quadrupole splittingQS at 296 K exhibits a maximum at 12 GPa and the saturation magnetic hyperfine fieldH ₀ increases from 7.4 T at ambient pressure to 12 T at 18 GPa. A qualitative analysis identifies the pressure evolution ofQS with changes in the trigonal component of the crystal field splitting. The pressure variation ofH ₀ is attributed to an increase in the average value of the 3d charge density distribution.     

Mössbauer and X-ray study of the Fe 65 Ni 35 invar alloy obtained by mechanical alloying

Fe₆₅Ni₃₅ samples were prepared by mechanical alloying (MA) with milling times of 5, 6, 7, 10 and 11 h, using a ball mass to powder mass ratio of 20:1 and at 280 rpm. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectrometry. The X-ray diffraction pattern showed the coexistence of one body centered cubic (BCC) and two face centered cubic (FCC1 and FCC2) structural phases. The lattice parameters of these phases did not change significantly with the milling time (2.866 Å, 3.597 Å and 3.538 Å, respectively). After 10 h of milling, the X-ray diffraction pattern showed clearly the coexistence of these three phases. Hence, Mössbauer spectrometry measurements at low temperatures from 20 to 300 K of this sample were also carried out. The Mössbauer spectra were fitted using a model with three components: the first one is a hyperfine magnetic field distributions at high fields, related to the BCC phase; the second one is a hyperfine magnetic field distribution involving low hyperfine fields related to a FCC phase rich in Ni, and the third one is a singlet related to a FCC phase rich in Fe, with paramagnetic behavior. As proposed by some authors, the last phase is related with the antitaenite phase.     

Influence of composition on hyperfine interactions in FeMoCuB nanocrystalline alloy

Influence of varying Fe/B ratio upon hyperfine interactions is investigated in the Fe_91?x Mo₈Cu₁B_x rapidly quenched alloys. They are studied both in the as-quenched (amorphous) state as well as after one-hour annealing at different temperatures ranging from 330 °C up to 650 °C. Such a heat treatment causes significant structural changes featuring a formation of nanocrystalline bcc-Fe grains during the first crystallization step. At higher annealing temperatures, a grain growth of bcc-Fe and occurrence of additional crystalline phases are observed. The relative fraction of the crystalline phase governs the development of magnetic hyperfine fields in the residual amorphous matrix even if this was fully paramagnetic in the as-quenched state. The development of hyperfine interactions is discussed as a function of annealing temperature and composition of the investigated alloys. ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectrometry was used as a principal analytical method. Additional information related to the structural arrangement is obtained from X-ray diffractometry. It is shown that in the as-quenched state, the relative fraction of magnetic hyperfine interactions increases as the amount of B rises. In partially crystalline samples, the contribution of magnetic hyperfine interactions inside the retained amorphous matrix increases with annealing temperature even though the relative fraction of amorphous magnetic regions decreases.     

Critical exponentβ for hyperfine fields in nickel

The magnetic hyperfine fields for⁶³Ni,⁶⁶Cu, and⁶⁷Zn nuclei in nickel metal have been measured by means of perturbed-ray angular distribution techniques at different temperatures up to 1 K below the Curie temperature,T _C . The temperature dependence of the fields can be very well fitted by (1—T/T _C ) with best values=0.322(16) for⁶³NiNi, = 0.427(42) for⁶⁶CuNi, and=0.427(14) for⁶⁷ZnNi respectively. The differences between these exponents indicate that there could be probe atom dependent deviations from proportionality between hyperfine field and bulk magnetization in the critical region.Work performed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a doctorate in physics at the Freie Universität, Berlin     

Mössbauer effect study of fine atomic structure of Fe50Al40Ni10 powders

In the present paper, we discuss the local atomic environment of Fe atoms in the mechanically alloyed Fe₅₀Al₄₀Ni₁₀ powders on the basis of hyperfine data estimated from ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectra. B_hf decreases with increasing milling time due to the diffusion of Al and/or Ni into Fe grains. Nickel atoms did not diffuse inside the first coordination sphere of Fe and if the diffusion takes place the number is not more than one atom. Analyses of P(B_hf), indicate that the high hyperfine field values ranging from 30 to 33 T have to be partially attributed to Fe crystalline nanograins and the presence of the defects in them, the hyperfine field values ranging from 15 to 30 T can be associated to the nanocrystalline bcc Fe(Al, Ni) solid solution while the low hyperfine field values (<15 T) result from Fe atoms located in the disordered grain boundaries.     

Supertransferred hyperfine magnetic fields at111Cd(←111In) in ferrimagnetic oxides with the spinel structure

The supertransferred hyperfine magnetic fields,H _STHF, at¹¹¹Cd(¹¹¹In) on the tetrahedral sites of the spinel oxides Fe_3-xM_xO₄ (M = Ni or Co) were measured by means of the time differential perturbed angular correlation. The observedH _STHF were analyzed as the sum of the fields transferred from individual B site magnetic ions: 11 kOe/Fe³⁺, 8 kOe/Fe²⁺, 4 kOe/Ni²⁺ and 4 kOe/Co²⁺. A brief discussion is presented on these results in comparison with previous ones onH _STHF at¹¹¹Cd(^111mCd) in rocksalt-type oxides and the one at¹¹¹in in NiFe₂O₄.     

Influence of radiation damage on the hyperfine field of triton irradiated nickel foils

The recently observed Mössbauer effect in⁶³Ni enables the study of the hyperfine field in nickel with high resolution. In the present paper, the line broadening of the Mössbauer resonance is analyzed in order to study the influence of radiation damage on the magnetic hyperfine field in⁶⁴Ni foils. Each of these foils was irradiated by tritons at 15 K with a total current integral of 2.4 A h in order to produce the short-lived⁶³Co sources (T _1/2=27 s). An upper limit of 4.6 kG was estimated for the standard deviation of the magnetic hyperfine field distribution which resulted from the accumulated radiation damage. For the annealed absorber material the standard deviation of the magnetic field is less than 53 G.