Measurement of nuclear quadrupole interactions using Mössbauer spectroscopy

Abstract

Mössbauer spectroscopy is a useful probe for investigating nuclear quadrupole interactions. It enables the magnitude, sign and asymmetry of the electric quadrupole coupling constant to be determined. It is especially important for its ability to measure these parameters for excited nuclear states. The Mössbauer effect is used to measure excited state quadrupole moments in materials whose electric field gradient (EFG) is known. More commonly however, it is used to determine the EFG from which atomic bonding and electronic structure are determined. The technique also allows temperature dependent orientation of sublattice magnetization to be measured using the direction of the electric quadrupole coupling as a reference.