Influence of 50 MeV Lithium Ion Irradiation on Hyperfine Interactions of Cr0.5 Li0.5 Fe2O4

Spinel oxide Cr_0.5 Li_0.5 Fe₂O₄ has been irradiated at Nuclear Science Centre, New Delhi, by 50 MeV lithium ions of fluence 5*10¹³ ions/cm² and irradiation effect on hyperfine interactions has been investigated by Mossbauer spectroscopy. The Mossbauer spectrum of irradiated sample shows no paramagnetic doublet contribution and the hyperfine fields corresponding to the Fe³⁺ in the octahedral (B) and the tetrahedral (A) sites are very well separated. That is the observed superimposed A and B sites in unirradiated sample are split into separate lines after Li irradiation. Further an increase of the intensity of the lines (2)–(5) with respect to (1)–(6) signals an orientation of the hyperfine magnetic field towards a direction perpendicular to the ion path due to the irradiation induced strain by the latent tracks. The computer simulation of Mossbauer spectra indicated that the irradiated Fe³⁺-site occupancy of the A-site hyperfine field increased from 43% to 55% whereas the B-site hyperfine field decreased from 57% to 45% compared to unirradiated sample.