Ni synchrotron radiation-based Mssbauer spectroscopy of nickel-based nanoparticles with hexagonal structure

Masuda, Ryo*; Kobayashi, Yasuhiro*; Kitao, Shinji*; Kurokuzu, Masayuki*; Saito, Makina*; Yoda, Yoshitaka*; Mitsui, Takaya; Hosoi, Kohei*; Kobayashi, Hirokazu*; Kitagawa, Hiroshi*; Seto, Makoto

We measured the SR Mssbauer spectra of Ni nanoparticles with a hexagonal structure that were synthesized by chemical reduction. To obtain Mssbauer spectra of the nanoparticles without 61-Ni enrichment, we developed a measurement system for Ni SR Mssbauer absorption spectroscopy without X-ray windows between the standard energy alloy and detector. The counting rate of the Ni nuclear resonant scattering in the system was enhanced by the detection of internal conversion electrons and the close proximity between the energy standard and the detector. The spectrum measured at 4 K revealed the internal magnetic field of the nanoparticles was 3.4 T, corresponding to a Ni atomic magnetic moment of 0.3 Bohr magneton. This differs from the value of NiC and the theoretically predicted value of hexagonal closed packed Ni and suggested the nanoparticle possessed intermediate carbon content between hcp-Ni and NiC of approximately 10 atomic percent of Ni.