Temperature dependence of the hyperfine field in amorphous Fe2O3

Mössbauer spectroscopy was used to follow the hyperfine field at ⁵⁷Fe nuclei in amorphous Fe₂O₃. The value of H_hf at T = 0, 470 kG, indicates $\text{J}\text{=}\text{5}\text{2}$ for the Fe ions, while the reduced hyperfine field versus reduced temperature closely follows a $\text{J}\text{=}\text{1}\text{2}$ Brillouin function. This result is at variance with theoretical predictions for a spin glass and is also different from amorphous metals with a high content of magnetic ions as reported in the literature. Paramagnetic Mössbauer spectra of amorphous mixed oxides of Fe₂O₃ with ZnO and CoO show that the ⁵⁷Fe nuclei in all amorphous ferric oxides studied so far are coordinated in a manner similar to the d site in β F₂O₃, and distinctly different from the coordination in their crystalline form.