Long-term low-temperature ageing of amorphous alloys

Long term stability of the coercivity and⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer parameters (magnitude and average orientation of hyperfine induction) at ca 150 °C was tested at three TM-M type amorphous alloys (Fe₈₃B₁₇, Fe₄₀Ni₄₀B₂₀ and Co₆₆Fe₅Cr₇Si₈B₁₄) up to 5000 hrs. Correlations between the Mössbauer and magnetic quantities were found and their possible causes are discussed.     

Magnetic properties of the ternary alloy system (FexNi1−x)11Se8 for 0.042<x<0.23

The ternary alloy system (Fe_xNi_1?x)₁₁Se₈ for 0.04257Fe Mössbauer experiments at 4.2 K. A preliminary analysis of the spectra reveals that all samples are magnetically ordered at 4.2 K and the magnetic hyperfine field increases with increasing iron concentration. Temperature dependent Mössbauer spectra measured for x=0.22 indicate that the transition temperature is about 108±2 K. The results are discussed in terms of the magnetic and structural properties of the system.     

Magnetic behavior of amorphous Fe−Ni−Zr alloys and their response to radiation damage

The magnetic properties of two amorphous Fe?Ni?Zr alloys, Fe_89.7Ni_0.03Zr₁₀ and Fe₇₀Ni₂₀Zr₁₀, both in the “as cast” and neutron irradiated states were investigated by Mössbauer spectroscopy and dc magnetic susceptibility measurements. The upper magnetic ordering temperatures of Fe_89.7Ni_0.03Zr₁₀ are 232K and 246K for the “as cast” and irradiated samples, respectively. The magnetic ordering temperature for Fe₇₀Ni₂₀Zr₁₀ was about 478K for both the “as cast” and irradiated samples. Both compositions yield magnetic hyperfine spectra, which show a considerable relaxation effect that must be explicitly considered in the calculation of the average local Fe moments. When this is done, these values derived from Mössbauer spectra are in good agreement with the dc susceptibility values. The effects of neutron irradiation on the magnetic properties of these alloys are small.     

Magnetic and thermal Mössbauer effect scans: a new approach

Mössbauer transmission recorded at fixed photon energies as a function of a given physical parameter such as temperature, external field, etc. (Mössbauer scan), is being developed as a useful quantitative tool, complementary of Mössbauer spectroscopy. Scans are performed at selected energies, suitable for the observation of a given physical property or process. It is shown that one of main advantages of this approach is the higher speed at which the external physical parameter can be swept, which allows the recording of quasi-continuous experimental response functions as well as the study of processes which occur too fast to be followed by Mössbauer spectroscopy. The applications presented here are the determination of the temperature dependence of the ⁵⁷Fe hyperfine field in FeSn₂, the thermal evolution and nanocrystallization kinetics of amorphous Fe_73.5Si_13.5Cu₁Nb₃B₉ and the measurement of the dynamic response of Fe magnetic moments in nanocrystalline Fe₉₀Zr₇B₃ to an external ac field.     

A Mössbauer effect investigation of the magnetic behaviour of (Fe,Co)S1 + x solid solutions

The Mössbauer spectra of (Fe, Co)S_{1 + x} were recorded at room temperature and 4.2 K for samples of varying composition to study the magnetic behaviour of the solid solutions. The Mössbauer spectra are split magnetically at iron concentrations above 16% Fe. For samples with less than 16%Fe, the Mössbauer spectra show no evidence of magnetic splitting down to 4.2 K. The room temperature centre shift data appear to vary continuously with composition and the hyperfine magnetic field decreases with decreasing Fe²⁺ concentration. A Mössbauer spectrum of ⁵⁷Fe:CoS at 4.2 K in an external field of 25 kOe showed no evidence of magnetic splitting beyond that caused by the applied field, indicating a net zero internal field.A high spin to low spin transition in Fe²⁺ is ruled out as being responsible for the observed magnetic behaviour on the basis of the centre shift data. The Mössbauer data are interpreted to indicate a substantial increase in electron delocalization towards the ligands as the 〈M-S〉 distance decreases with decreasing Fe²⁺concentration. This causes a reduction in the magnitude of the internal magnetic field contributions as well as a decrease of shielding of the nucleus, giving rise to the observed Mössbauer parameters.The Mössbauer spectrum of ⁵⁷Fe:CoS at room temperature is compared with the spectrum of FeS above the 6.7 GPa phase transition at room temperature. The similarities of the centre shift and the 〈M-S〉 distance in the two phases indicate that covalency may also be responsible for the observed high pressure behaviour of FeS, and not the presence of Fe³⁺ as was originally suggested.     

Magnetic properties of nanocrystalline composite in the Nd--Fe--B system

Using ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and magnetization measurements, magnetic properties of melt-spun Nd_4.5Fe₇₇B_18.5 ribbon have been investigated after the annealing treatments which make nanocrystalline composite from the as-prepared amorphous state. Specimen ribbon which shows coercivity and is suitable for a permanent magnet consists of the mixture of Fe₃B and Nd₂Fe₁₄B. Relative fraction of these phases in the ribbon have been determined.     

Mössbauer spectroscopy of the new iron oxide Fe3B7O13(OH)

In order to investigate the electronic state, the local structure, and the magnetic structure of a new ion oxide Fe₃B₇O₁₃(OH), we have applied ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy. The room-temperature values of isomer shift and quadrupole splitting are 1.16 mm/s and 3.21 mm/s, respectively, which indicate that the Fe ions are in high spin Fe^2?+? state. The spectrum at 4.2 K is composed of a well-resolved hyperfine sextet with the hyperfine field of 3.6 T. In a trimer, each Fe^2?+? magnetic moment is supposed to be directed from Fe^2?+? to OH^???.     

Magnetic and 57Fe Mössbauer studies of collinear spin rotation in Ho2Fe14B

Magnetic properties of Ho₂Fe₁₄B compounds have been studied by the ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer effect and magnetization measurements. The axes of easy and hard magnetizations lie along the [001] and the [100] directions in the tetragonal structure, respectively, above T_sc = 58 K. From the comparison of the Mössbauer results with the magnetization measurements, it became clear that the Fe and the Ho moments tilt collinearly from the c-axis to the [110] direction throughout the temperature range of 4.2–58 K, and the canting angle reaches to 22° at 4.2 K. The Mössbauer spectra are consistently resolved with six subspectra above T_sc and with twelve below T_sc, together with reasonable site-assignments. We have estimated the mean Ho moment at 10.0μ_B, using the mean Fe moment of 2.3μ_B derived from the average hyperfine field or using the magnetization of Y₂Fe₁₄B as the Fe-sublattice magnetization of Ho₂Fe₁₄B.     

Magnetic and Mössbauer spectroscopic studies of NiZn ferrite nanoparticles synthesized by a combustion method

The properties of nanocrystalline Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄ synthesized by an auto-combustion method have been investigated by magnetic measurements and Mössbauer spectroscopy. The as-synthesized single phase nanosized ferrite powder is annealed at different temperatures in the range 673–1,273 K to obtain nanoparticles of different sizes. The powders are characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, vibrating sample magnetometer, transmission electron microscopy and Mössbauer spectroscopy. The as-synthesized powder with average particle size of ~9 nm is superparamagnetic. Magnetic transition temperature increases up to 665 K for the nanosized powder as compared to the transition temperature of 548 K for the bulk ferrite. This has been confirmed as due to the abnormal cation distribution, as evidenced from room temperature Mössbauer spectroscopic studies.     

237Np and 57Fe Mössbauer study of NpFeGa5

⁵⁷Fe and ²³⁷Np Mössbauer ōmeasurements have been performed for NpFeGa₅, which is one of the so-called neptunium 1-1-5 compounds. The ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectra below T _N = 118 K show the magnetically ordered state. The magnitude of the hyperfine magnetic field at the ⁵⁷Fe nucleus is determined to be 1.98 ± 0.05 T at 10 K. From the ²³⁷Np Mössbauer spectrum at 10 K, the hyperfine magnetic field at the ²³⁷Np nucleus is 203 T and the hyperfine coupling constant is determined to be 237 T/μ_B using the Np atomic magnetic moment of 0.86 μ_B determined by the neutron diffraction study.     

Mössbauer spectroscopical investigation of amorphous Fe–Y alloy ribbons prepared by melt spinning

Fe–Y amorphous alloy ribbons were prepared by the melt spinning method and characterized by X-ray diffraction, Mössbauer spectroscopy and inelastic neutron scattering. X-ray diffraction demonstrates that the Fe_0.7Y_0.3 ribbons are completely amorphous, whereas the Fe_0.3Y_0.7 ribbons contain a small fraction of crystalline Y precipitates in the amorphous Fe–Y matrix. Mössbauer spectroscopy between 4.2 to 300 K reveals the amorphous nature of the Fe–Y matrix and the Fe_0.7Y_0.3 ribbons. The preliminary neutron scattering results S(Q, ω) show excess low energy vibrational modes which gives rise to the so called “boson peak” in this amorphous material.     

Low temperature magnetic ordering in Fe-doped TiO 2 samples

Fe-doped TiO₂ samples with different Fe content prepared by mechanical alloying have been investigated by means of Mössbauer spectroscopy at 300 and 4.2 K. The results indicate the coexistence of Fe^2?+? and Fe^3?+? ions in paramagnetic states at room temperatures in the rutile structure. All samples present magnetic order at 4.3 K. When the Fe concentration increases the Fe ions in the rutile matrix became closer giving the possibility of strong magnetic interactions between them. The temperature evolution of the magnetic order was followed for the 15 at.% of Fe sample. The Fe-doped oxide formed for this composition orders below 20 K reaching an almost totally magnetic ordered state at 4.3 K.     

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.     

Relation between magnetic hyperfine field distribution and cation order in natural hedenbergite

Mössbauer and magnetic measurements have been performed at various temperatures between 1.5K and 300K on a natural hedenbergite Ca_0.96 Mg_0.19 Fe_0.82Mn_0.02Si₂O₆. The magnetic measurements are consistent with a ferromagnetic alignment of the Fe²⁺ moments inside each zig-zag M1 chain and antiferromagnetic alignment of the moments of neighbouring chains. Above T_N (Mössbauer)=29±2K, a single quadrupole doublet attributed to Fe²⁺ in the M1 sites is observed. At 4.2K, the Mössbauer spectra can be accounted for by a discrete distribution of six hyperfine field components which can be related to all the possible Fe²⁺?Mg²⁺ configurations up to second cation neighbours surrounding a central⁵⁷Fe²⁺ probe.     

Mössbauer spectroscopy of creep-annealed soft magnetic amorphous alloys

To produce magnetic anisotropy in amorphous alloys, stress-annealing above the Curie temperature was substituted for the common thermomagnetic treatment. A tilting three-angle Mössbauer method was applied to see the changes of the⁵⁷Fe hyperfine field directions and intensities due to this procedure. The resulting pictures of the domain orientations distribution in the Fe₈₀Cr₂B₁₄Si₄ and Fe₄₀Ni₄₀B₂₀ amorphous alloys are compared with the measured magnetic anisotropies and domain structures.     

Magnetization and Mössbauer studies of 57Fe doped SrCoO3

⁵⁷Fe (1%) doped SrCoO₃ obtained by high-pressure method, has been investigated by magnetization and Mössbauer spectroscopy studies (MS) in the temperature range 4.2 K to 300 K. The ferromagnetic ordering temperature T _C obtained is 272(2) K. Isothermal magnetization curves have been measured at various temperatures, from which the saturation moments (M _sat) have been deduced. The ⁵⁷Fe MS spectra display standard six-line patterns with an isomer shift typical of Fe^3?+? and a very small quadrupole splitting (QS = 0.14(1) mm/s above T _C). The magnetic hyperfine field at 4.2 K is 276(1) kOe. The temperature dependencies of the iron hyperfine field and M _sat (1.83 µ _B at 5 K) are almost identical. This shows that the Fe^3?+? is replacing Co^4?+?, both of the same electronic configuration. They also interact similarly, namely the Fe–Co exchange is almost identical to the Co–Co exchange.     

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.     

Modification of magnetic anisotropy in metallic glasses using high-energy ion beam irradiation

Heavy ion irradiation in the electronic stopping power region induces macroscopic dimensional change in metallic glasses and introduces magnetic anisotropy in some magnetic materials. The present work is on the irradiation study of ferromagnetic metallic glasses, where both dimensional change and modification of magnetic anisotropy are expected. Magnetic anisotropy was measured using Mössbauer spectroscopy of virgin and irradiated Fe₄₀Ni₄₀B₂₀ and Fe₄₀Ni₃₈Mo₄B₁₈ metallic glass ribbons. 90 MeV ¹²⁷I beam was used for the irradiations. Irradiation doses were 5×10¹³ and 7.5×10¹³ ions/cm². The relative intensity ratios D ₂₃ of the second and third lines of the Mössbauer spectra were measured to determine the magnetic anisotropy. The virgin samples of both the materials display in-plane magnetic anisotropy, i.e., the spins are oriented parallel to the ribbon plane. Irradiation is found to cause reduction in magnetic anisotropy. Near-complete randomization of magnetic moments is observed at high irradiation doses. Correlation is found between the residual stresses introduced by ion irradiation and the change in magnetic anisotropy.     

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.     

Investigations of crystal and magnetic properties of Dy-Fe intermetallic compounds

The crystal and magnetic properties of Dy₂Fe₁₇, Dy₆Fe₂₃, DyFe₃ and DyFe₂ intermetallic compounds are investigated with X-ray, magnetometric, ⁵⁷Fe and ¹⁶¹Dy Mössbauer effect methods. The X-ray analysis shows that investigated compounds are single phases with Th₂Ni₁₇, Th₆Mn₂₃, PuNi₃ and NgCu₂ type crystal structures, respectively. The magnetometric measurements prove their ferrimagnetic behaviour, localization of Fe magnetic moments and long range Fe-Fe exchange magnetic interactions. The crystal field effects induce magnetic anisotropy which results in local magnetic symmetry or iron atoms lower than the crystal one. This is observed by the Mössbauer effect method. The values of ¹⁶¹Dy hyperfine magnetic fields measured for investigated compounds exceed that found in metallic dysprosium due to polarization of conduction electrons by 3d-electrons of iron atoms. The weighted average value of ⁵⁷Fe hyperfine magnetic field decreases with the increase of Dy content in the compounds.