Mossbauer study on the distribution of iron in high coercivity chromium dioxide particles

/sup 57/Fe Mossbauer spectroscopy is applied to determine the level of iron doping in high-coercivity CrO/sub 2/ particles. It is found that, compared with the conventional preparation process, the particles contain an increased amount of Fe/sup 3+/ ions in the CrO/sub 2/ crystal lattice, giving rise to higher magnetocrystalline anisotropy. This is reflected in coercivities up to over 900 Oe. All samples contain as a secondary iron-containing phase some (Cr/sub 1-x/Fe/sub x/)/sub 2/O/sub 3/. The valence of the iron doping is predominantly +3; very weak signals in the Mossbauer spectra suggest the existence of Fe/sup 4+/ in an amount 2-3% of the total number of iron atoms.>