Hyperfine fields of amorphous residual and interface phases in FeMCuB nanocrystalline alloys: a Moessbauer effect study

Amorphous and nanocrystalline Fe80M7Cu1B12 (M = Mo, Nb, Ti) alloys are investigated at room and liquid nitrogen temperatures. 57Fe Moessbauer spectrometry is employed because its local probe behaviour is able to elucidate the nature of hyperfine interactions at different resonating iron nuclei and to distinguish their immediate atomic surroundings. Using two independent distributions of hyperfine fields in addition to a crystalline sextet, the contributions to hyperfine interactions stemming from the amorphous residual phase and from the interfacial regions can be distinguished. The role of different constituent elements is also discussed