Study of the 3D5 Shell Deformation of Fe3+ Ions in Znfe2O4 by High‐Field Mössbauer Spectroscopy

The deformation of the 3d5 electron shell of Fe3+ ions in ZnFe2O4 is investigated by Mössbauer spectroscopy without and with an external magnetic field of 6 T at 4.2 K. It is found that 3d5 shell deformation observed by neutron spectroscopy brings about a quadrupole shift equal to ϵ3d = −0.030 mm/s. The magnitude of all other hyperfine interaction parameters of 57Fe nuclei are also reported. Noncollinear arrangements of Fe3+ spins, inside clusters as well as in their local environments, are observed. Among the Fe3+ ions in the octahedral B‐sites five different magnetic configurations are distinguished.