Some Mössbauer effect considerations in gamma-ray laser development

The development of gamma-ray lasers (grasers) will, in all probability, depend on the use of recoillessly emitted gamma rays from nuclear transitions, i.e., the Mössbauer Effect (ME). Past research in Mössbauer spectroscopy which relates to grasers is briefly reviewed. The nuclear lifetimes, required for practical considerations, may have to be on the order of seconds, if storage and transfer processes prove infeasible. It is not clear that the ME has been observed in such long-lived states. Even if such long-lived states are not needed directly for grasers, successful observation of the ME in such a system will answer important questions of line broadening due to field inhomogeneities in single crystals. We propose some novel experimental schemes to observe the ME in ¹⁰⁹Ag whose relevant lifetime is about 40 sec. The techniques proposed are: coincidence Mössbauer spectroscopy, conversion-electron Mössbauer spectroscopy, gravitational line sweeping, and gamma-ray self-absorption. Preliminary results using the later technique are presented. Possible future, relevant ME research is discussed.