Mössbauer study of hyperfine field distribution in Co2TiSn

The Co₂TiSn Heusler-type alloy (crystal structure L2₁, ferromagnetic with T_C=364(4)K) was investigated by means of magnetometric and 119-Sn Mössbauer techniques in the temperature range from 4.2K to 370K. The study was supplemented by similar examination of off-stoichiometric samples: Co_2±1Ti₁₁Sn. The temperature evolution of the shape of hyperfine field distribution leads to the conclusion that the process of demagnetization takes place in a non-uniform fashion within the sample volume. It is further claimed that local, short-range interactions are dominant both in magnetic and hyperfine couplings in this Heusler-type Co-based alloy.     

Mössbauer study on surface magnetic properties in magnetic fluids

The presence of m=0 lines of the Mössbauer spectra of small Fe₃O₄ particles coated with an organic surfactant in an applied field of 7 T at 5 K shows a non-collinear magnetic structure in the surface layer of these particles. From the temperature dependence of the hyperfine field, the anisotropy constantK was calculated.Projects supported by the Science Fund of the Chinese Academy of SciencesNow working at the Shanghai Institute of Education     

Mössbauer effect study of the magnetic structure in δ-FeOOH

Two samples of-FeOOH with different particle sizes have been studied in an external field of 4 T and as a function of temperature. They were found to have a ferrimagnetic structure due to an unequal occupancy of antiferromagnetically coupled octahedral ferric ions. The large surface contribution, which is characterized by a canted spin structure and by highly deformed Fe³⁺ co-ordinations, strongly influences the magnetic properties observed with Mössbauer spectroscopy.     

Sign determination of the hyperfine field by elliptically polarized Mössbauer source

A novel approach of determining the sign of the hyperfine magnetic field using elliptically polarized resonant γ-photons is presented. The method is demonstrated by a transmission experiment on α-Fe using a ⁵⁷Co:α-Fe source partially saturated parallel and antiparallel to each other in plane at a shallow angle of ~10° relative to the k-vector of the γ-rays. The evaluation procedure decomposes the resulting spectra into four linearly independent principal subspectra, namely I_?∣?∣?, $I_\bot $ , I_↑↑, I_↑↓, the linearly polarized parallel and perpendicular as well as the circularly polarized parallel and antiparallel components, respectively, and derives the experimental average polar angles of the hyperfine fields both in the source and absorber α-Fe foils as well as the mean difference of the azimuth angles. By this procedure not only the relative alignment but also the relative sign is determined.     

Mössbauer study of the surface of core-shell type nanoparticles

The properties of the surface layer of core-shell nanoparticles incorporated into the matrix of macromolecules of 3,4-bis(decyloxybenzoyl) poly(propylene imine) derivative of the second generation are studied by Mössbauer spectroscopy at low temperatures. The spin states, the details of the phonon spectrum and the Debye temperature of surface layer atoms discussed.     

A Mössbauer effect study of the Sb impurity site hyperfine field in amorphous Fe80B20

Mössbauer effect was used to determine the Sb site hyperfine field in the amorphous ferromagnet Fe₇₉SbB₂₀. The¹²¹Sb Mössbauer spectrum at 77 K showed a distribution of hyperfine fields with a most probable value of 219 kOe. This result is discussed in terms of the systematics of non-magnetic site hyperfine fields in ferromagnets.⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer effect was also used to determine the most probable value of the Fe site field, , and the width of the field distribution, H. Our measurements yield 280 kOe and H=104 kOe. These results are consistent with previous results on the amorphous ferromagnet Fe₈₀B₂₀.     

Mössbauer study of the magnetic and electric hyperfine interaction of dilute57Fe impurities in rare earth metal hosts

The hyperfine interaction of dilute⁵⁷Fe in the rare earth (RE)metals Gd to Lu was investigated by Mössbauer measurements with⁵⁷Co doped RE sources. In all hosts well split, 2-lines spectra were observed at room temperature, with slight asymmetries of the line intensities in some cases. The quadrupole splitting eQV_zz/2 increases from 0.29 mm/sec for Gd to 0.50 mm/sec for Tb, and decreases by less than 10 % between Tb and Lu. Only about 10 % of the corresponding electric fieldgradient (EFG) can be accounted for by the ionic EFG on a substitutional RE site. The temperature dependence of the EFG was measured in the case of Tb. No variation within 3 percent was found between 300 K and 700 K. Measurements of the magnetic hyperfine interaction at low temperatures were carried out in Tb. The saturation field of⁵⁷Fe in this host is H_hf(FeTb;4.2 K)=25(2) KOe. The temperature dependence of the magnetic hyperfine field does not follow the host magnetization (T_c=220K) but vanishes at about 80 K. Similar anomalies of H_hf(T) have previously been observed for other transition element impurities in the RE ferromagnets.     

Effect of random magnetic fields on the hyperfine structure of Mössbauer spectra in paramagnetic single crystals

Under certain conditions, the⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectra of Al(NO₃)₃·9H₂OFe³⁺ single crystals exhibit new lines [1,2] (so-called z-lines) at an unusually high velocity of about 10.5 mm/s. The dependence of the positions and intensities of these z-lines on the magnitude and direction of an external magnetic field has been investigated. The appearance of the z-lines is explained by small random magnetic fields arising from magnetic nuclei in the crystal.     

Radiofrequency forward Mössbauer scattering method in study of magnetic materials

Mössbauer spectra in forward scattering scheme were measured for iron borate (FeBO ₃) exposed to radiofrequency (rf) field below the Neel temperature. The spectra have satellites spaced by doubled rf field frequency. The semiclassical model of Mössbauer transmission through a thick magnetic sample under rf reversals of a hyperfine field is proposed. This model reproduces all features of the measured spectra. Experiments and model calculations indicate additional possibilities of this measurement scheme for study the soft magnetic materials.     

Mössbauer absorption by soft ferromagnets in radio-frequency magnetic field

The simultaneous influence of periodical magnetic field reversals at the nucleus between the values ±h ₀ and of magnetostrictive vibrations on the shape of the Mössbauer absorption spectrum is analyzed. The effect of a constant external magnetic field is taken into account by assuming unequal durations of the states ?h ₀ and +h ₀. It is shown that such asymmetric reversals of the magnetic field lead to splitting of the absorption lines into Zeeman patterns corresponding to the time-averaged magnetic field h ₀ R, where R is the asymmetry parameter of the reversals. The calculations agree well with experiment.     

Mössbauer study of magnetic Fe/FeSi multilayers

Many useful properties of magnetic multilayers depend on the coupling between the ferromagnetic layers. The coupling often oscillates with the thickness of non-magnetic spacer layers: it is ferro- or antiferromagnetic or even non-collinear near a critical thickness. We investigated the magnetron-sputtered Fe/FeSi multilayers with spacer thickness around 1.7 nm by means of Conversion Electron Mössbauer Spectroscopy with oblique incidence of the γ beam in order to gain information on the orientation of the local magnetic moments in the multilayer plane. The results show that the local moments make an angle of 45°–50° with the direction of the remanent magnetization. This is consistent with strong biquadratic coupling which in turn is expected at this spacer thickness from our magnetic measurements. An analysis of the distribution ofB _hf corresponding to different numbers of n.n. Si atoms in the bcc Fe structure points to weak diffusion of Si through the Fe/FeSi interface characterized by a diffusion length of about twice the substrate roughness.     

Mössbauer spectroscopic study of iron fluoride surface layers

The reaction products formed during exposure of iron foils to hydrogen fluoride in the presence of atmospheric oxygen and water have been examined with conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy (CEMS) [1]. After exposure for several hours the product in the corrosion layer was found to consist mainly of the mixed-valence iron fluoride, Fe₂F₅·7H₂O. Although the products formed during the initial steps of the reaction could not be completely characterized, a model for the reaction process is suggested.     

Mössbauer studies of the surface and bulk magnetic structure of scandium-substituted Ba-M-type hexaferrites

A direct comparison of the magnetic structures of a surface layer and of the bulk of Ba-M-type hexagonal ferrites with iron ions partially replaced by Sc diamagnetic ions (BaFe_12?x Sc_xO₁₉) has been made by simultaneous Mössbauer spectroscopy with detection of gamma rays, characteristic x-ray emission, and electrons. It has been found that, if the magnetic lattice of a Ba-M-type hexagonal ferrite is weakly diluted by Sc diamagnetic ions, a ～300-nm thick macroscopic layer forms on the surface of a BaFe_11.4Sc_0.6O₁₉ crystal, in which the iron-ion magnetic moments are noncollinear with the moments in the bulk. The noncollinear magnetic structure forms in the near-surface layer of BaFe_12?x Sc_xO₁₉ crystals because the exchange interaction energy is additionally reduced by the presence of such a “defect” as the surface. This is the first observation in ferromagnetic crystals of an anisotropic surface layer whose magnetic properties, as predicted by Néel, differ from those of the bulk.     

Shift of relaxation-stimulated resonances in Mössbauer absortion spectra in a static magnetic field

New features are obtained for previously predicted relaxation-stimulated resonances in Mössbauer spectra of nanomagnets exposed to an external rf field: the resonances should undergo low-frequency shift upon applying a weak static magnetic field. Analytic expressions for the resonance frequencies as functions of the static field are obtained within a simplified relaxation model. This effect extends the possibilities for experimental observation of the predicted effects, because tuning to the resonance may be accomplished not only by changing frequency of the rf field but also by varying the amplitude of the alternating field and the strength of the static field.     

Mössbauer study of nanocrystalline Ni–Zn ferrite

Ni_1−xZn_xFe₂O₄ (0.0⩽x⩽1.0) nanoparticles have been prepared by the polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) sol–gel method. The lattice parameter of Ni–Zn nanoparticle is larger than that of the bulk material. The Mössbauer spectra of the samples showed the presence of ultrafine particles exhibiting superparamagnetic relaxation at room temperature and an ordered magnetic structure at 77 K.     

Mössbauer effect study of Ni bearing aluminous goethites

Five synthetic oxyhydroxides of iron with different contents of Al and an approximately fixed content of Ni have been studied using⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy in conjunction with X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and chemical analysis. It has been shown that, besides alumogoethite, some amorphous Al-bearing phase of iron exists, Ni being preferentially associated with this phase. Not only the effective magnetic field, but also the line width of the Mössbauer spectra at 77 K may be a measure of Al content in both phases. Doublet to sextet area ratio provides a measure of the relative concentration of the amorphous and crystalline phases.     

Mössbauer and magnetic study of silicon substituted cobalt ferrite

Silicon substituted cobalt ferrites have been investigated for improved performance as stress sensing materials. A series of samples with the formulae CoSi _x Fe_2???x O₄ were prepared using conventional powder ceramic technique. X-ray diffraction patterns were taken to examine spinel crystal structures and energy dispersive spectrometry was done to confirm Si segregations at the grain boundaries. Magnetic and magneto-strictive measurements were carried out to evaluate the material performance. Mössbauer spectra were taken on selective samples to understand the cationic distribution responsible for the modification of properties. The variations are explained on the basis of the strength of the exchange interactions between cations, and anisotropy contributions of cobalt ions. The results demonstrate the possibility of controlling magnetic and magneto-mechanical properties such as Curie temperature and strain derivative through Co and Si substitutions.     

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.