Mössbauer effect in iron and dilute iron based alloys

Fifteen years of Mössbauer Effect (ME) studies have significantly widened the insight into the physical properties of iron and iron based alloys. In this review article the various contributions to the hyperfine interactions as measured with the ME technique, namely the isomer shift, the magnetic hyperfine interaction and the quadrupole interaction are summarized. Further the impurity effects as the Friedel type oscillations in the charge and the RKKY type oscillations in the spin density distribution are discussed. Special attention is paid to the peculiar magnetic properties of metallic iron and its alloys. From a comparison of the magnetic hyperfine fields and bulk magnetizations as a function of the impurity concentration and from the temperature dependence of the magnetic hyperfine fields at the various sites in iron alloys, it is concluded that the 3d magnetic moments in iron are largely localized. Further the exchange interaction is provided by the remaining small percentage of itinerant 3d electrons. Finally, from a comparison of magnetic hyperfine field and isomer shift data in alloys an overall picture of the electronic changes involved in alloying has been developed.