Debye-Waller Factor for Mössbauer Resonant Impurity Atoms

Abstract

The probability for recoilless resonant gamma-ray emission or absorption by atoms present as impurities in a host lattice has been evaluated in the high-temperature limit. The effect of interatomic force constant differences between impurity atoms and host lattice atoms is included explicitly for a simple model. The first order quantum corrections have been calculated for the case of an isotopic impurity (no force constant difference). The Debye-Waller factor at high temperatures is determined largely by the stiffness of the host lattice, and partially by the forces between host and impurity atoms. The effects of the host and impurity masses appear only in the quantum corrections.