Structural and Mössbauer spectroscopic studies of Fe_0.7-xCr_xAl_0.3 alloys

Fe_0.7-xCr_xAl_0.3 alloys with x=0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.35 have been synthesized by arc melting and studied by X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy. All the samples studied were found to have single phase with body center cubic structure. The lattice parameter a, and hence the volume, were obtained from the X-ray diffraction patern and found to increase with increasing the chromium concentration. At room temperature Mössbauer studies show magnetic ordering for small values of x and paramagnetic behavior for large values of x under investigation. The Mössbauer spectra were analyzed considering a distribution of magnetic hyperfine fields for small values of x and two singlets were added for large values of x. During the fitting procedure, the relation between the hyperfine field and the isomer shift in the hyperfine field distribution was linear relation. The average hyperfine field and isomer shift as a function of chromium content x were found to decrease with increasing x. The results are explained in terms of local environmental effects on the hyperfine interactions.