Lamb–Mössbauer factor of powders determined by Mössbauer spectroscopy with resonant detector

The Lamb–Mössbauer factor is a crucial material parameter for the proper quantitative analysis of Mössbauer experiments. We report on a method for determining the Lamb–Mössbauer factor of powdered samples. It utilizes a resonant Mössbauer spectrometer together with a customized sample preparation, which ensures a homogeneous thickness of the powdered absorbers. Compared with other methods of Lamb‒Mössbauer factor determination, the presented approach is direct and requires only a single Mössbauer measurement. To demonstrate this method, the Lamb–Mössbauer factor of iron(II) oxalate dihydrate samples with varying thickness was measured. The resulting value of the Lamb–Mössbauer factor was 0.38 ± 0.03. The presented approach can be used for a large variety of powdered materials.