Materials Research Bulletin, Vol.31, No.5, 465-474, 1996
Local Environment and Vibrational Characteristics of Sn-119(II) Mossbauer Probe Atoms Located on the Surface of Cr2O3 Microcrystals
Two different sites have been evidenced for Sn(II) dopant atoms located at the surface of the Cr2O3 substrate. Their inequivalence appears to be essentially due to the number of neighboring CI (III) cations which are responsible for the magnetic hyperfine fields H transferred at the Sn-119 nuclei. While a large difference is observed in the saturation values of H, the isomer shift and quadrupole splitting-which are predominantly determined by tin-oxygen bonding-differ for the two sites to a lesser extent. Moreover, the main component V-zz of the electric field gradient at Sn-119 nuclei is found, in both cases, to be negative and oriented at the same angle with respect to the c-axis of the Cr2O3 lattice. The magnetic ordering temperature detected by the surface-located Sn-119(II) atoms appears to be in good agreement with that previously determined from antiferromagnetic resonance experiments for undoped Cr2O3. The Goldanskii-Karyagin effect, which is observed for Sn(II) dopant atoms in the paramagnetic region, indicates that the mean square vibration amplitudes are smaller along the V-zz axis than perpendicular to this direction.
Keywords:CATALYST