Nuclear quadrupole resonance in the gamma-resonance spectra of soft matter

Abstract

It is shown that the harmonic librations (oscillations) of the principal axis of the electric field gradient tensor in “cages” of liquids, glasses, ferroliquids, and other “soft” systems qualitatively change the shape of the Mossbauer spectra of the quadrupole hyperfine structure. In addition to an effective decrease in the quadrupole coupling constant in the fast-libration limit, nuclear quadrupole resonance is predicted, which must be manifested in the Mossbauer spectra at the libration frequency that is approximately equal to the quadrupole splitting of spectral lines. By analogy with nuclear magnetic resonance, simple analytical expressions are derived, which describe resonance Mossbauer spectra in terms of the effective quadrupole coupling constant and the resonance splitting constant for the main lines. The observed features of the formation of quadrupole hyperfine structure spectra can be manifested in the Mossbauer spectra of soft matter and must be taken into account in analysis of experimental data.