Local atomic arrangement in mechanosynthesized Co x Fe1−x−y Ni y alloys studied by Mössbauer spectroscopy

Mechanosynthesized Co x Fe1−x−y Ni y alloys were examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Mössbauer spectroscopy. In order to explain the shape of hyperfine magnetic field (HMF) distributions for the alloys, a local environment model based on a multinomial distribution was proposed. The model was in agreement with the XRD data and confirmed that the studied alloys were disordered solid solutions. It was successfully applied to describe the samples with bcc and fcc crystalline lattice type within the relatively broad range of components concentration. The results showed that the change of the crystalline lattice type does not cause an abrupt change of the HMF value. Moreover, a mean number of unpaired spins for the first coordination sphere may be used as a parameter to describe the HMF value experienced by 57Fe nucleus. Finally, a set of the most probable atomic configurations and their corresponding contributions to the HMF distribution were obtained.