Alloys and Intermetallic Compounds

Abstract

One of the major applications of Mössbauer spectroscopy is in the field of metal physics. Many of the physical properties of a metal such as the electrical conductivity and magnetic susceptibility are macroscopic; i. e. they derive from the bulk solid and in particular from its collective-electron band structure. The Mössbauer technique differs in that it records individual atoms in the metal. This enables a detailed study of the near-neighbour interactions with the resonant nucleus, and of the effects of changing composition on the electronic and magnetic interactions of particular atoms within the alloy. Many of the principles enunciated in earlier chapters are still applicable, but some new phenomena are found and the more important of these will now be discussed. Some of the analytical applications in applied metallurgy are indicated in Chapter 9.