EXPERIMENTAL METHODS AND TECHNICAL APPLICATIONS MÖSSBAUER SPECTROSCOPY APPLIED TO SURFACES AND INTERFACES

Mössbauer spectroscopy has one of its most important features the ability to simultaneously undertake bulk and surface analyses. It is a non-destructive technique that can be applied in situ to investigate surfaces of varying thickness using the secondary radiation emitted after resonant absorption of a gamma ray. Some applications of conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy (CEMS) are presented. Key words: Mössbauer spectroscopy; backscattering experiments; surface studies, thin films. Mössbauer spectroscopy has one of its most important features the ability to simultaneously undertake bulk and surface analyses. It is a non-destructive technique that can be applied in situ to investigate surfaces of varying thickness from thin films to coatings without the need to remove them from their substrate. Following resonant absorption of a gamma ray, the nucleus may de-excite by emission of a gamma ray, or by the process of internal conversion where an inner (K, or L) shell electron is emitted. Accompanying conversion electron emission is a characteristic X-ray. Detecting the three “backscattered particles