Mössbauer Line Broadening in Trivalent Iron Compounds

Line-broadening effects in Mössbauer spectra have been studied for a series of paramagnetic trivalent iron compounds. In general, the broadenings observed are temperature independent and are approximately correlated with the average spacing between neighboring iron atoms. The line broadening in these compounds is therefore attributed to magnetic hyperfine interactions which are partially narrowed by electron spin—spin relaxation. This interpretation is supported by the further observation that one of these compounds, ferric acetylacetonate, exhibits resolved magnetic hyperfine structure when it is diluted in a glassy matrix.