Mossbauer effect study of mechanically alloyed Gamma and Gamma sub 1 Fe-Zn intermediate phases

The Mossbauer effect measurements of as-ball-milled mechanically alloyed Fe-Zn intermediate phases of Gamma (Fe sub 3 Zn sub 10 ) and Gamma sub 1 (Fe sub 5 Zn sub 21 ) compositions exhibit characteristic spectra consisting of triplets. Each is characterized with an Fe site with unusually large quadrupole splittings measuring 0.940 mm/s in the cubic Fe-Zn phases and, in addition, three other doublets. In the aged state, both compositions show spectra free of the Fe site with quadrupole splitting of 0.940 mm/s, designated as sub MS Gamma Fe sub 1 and sub MS Gamma 1 Fe sub 1 , respectively. This suggests that the metastable states are similar, while their separate transformation paths to stable equilibrium lead to distinct crystal structures. The parameters for the aged states are compared with those reported in the literature for both phases.