MOSSBAUER LINE-SHARPENING - APPLICATION TO MAGNETICALLY-SPLIT SPECTRA

The contrast in a Mossbauer spectrum can be enhanced by a model-indepe ndent method of line sharpening, due to Afanas'ev and Tsymbal, which e mploys higher powers of Lorenztian lines. We have investigated the app licability of this process to the Fe-57 spectrum of a new, ternary rar e-earth intermetallic Nd-2(Fe, Ti)(19). Fitting the processed spectrum gives a smaller chi(2) value than a simple Lorentzian fit to the orig inal data due to the deviation from the pure Lorentzian line shape in the spectrum caused by statistical fluctuations in the local chemical environment of the Fe-57 nuclei. However, we find that the use of the Pearson VII line shape gives a better fit to the spectrum than either the standard Lorentzians or the sharpened, higher-power Lorentzians. T he line-sharpening process based on higher-power Lorentzians appears t o be of limited use in the study of complex, overlapping magnetic spec tra.