Evaluation of Distributed Hyperfine Parameters

Abstract

The problem of deconvoluting partly resolved or overlapped spectra has existed since the early days of Mossbauer spectroscopy.1,2 This problem transcends all areas in which the technique is applied so that essentially the same questions of data analysis confront experimentalists across a wide range of studies. As examples, the distribution of magnetic hyperfine fields in an amorphous alloy,3 the distribution of quadrupole splitting in hydrides4 or spinel compounds,5 the distribution of hyperfine parameters in microcrystalline materials6 (e.g., in minerals, sediments, igneous rocks, biological systems, surface layers, etc.), or the distribution and correlations of quadrupole splittings and isomer shifts in a paramagnetic lava7 are typical of questions posed in the analysis of data. Indeed, the relatively straightforward manner in which high-quality Mossbauer transmission spectra can be obtained often belies the difficulties awaiting their analysis.