The state of 57Fe in pure and oxidized tin chalcogenides by Mössbauer spectroscopy

A Mössbauer spectroscopy study has been made of the stabilization states of ⁵⁷Fe in pure tin chalcogenides. The values of the isomer shifts and the quadrupole splittings lead to the conclusion that iron presents the electronic configuration 3d⁵4s^x at high spin in the interstitial position. This result is confirmed varying the ⁵⁷Fe neighbours by partial substitution of tellurium with oxygen. In this case, too, the values of Mössbauer parameters confirm the same results. The quadrupole moment present in pure SnTe doped ⁵⁷Co, and the shift of isomer shift towards less positive values for the oxidizated samples have been qualitatively justified as well.