Mossbauer effect and magnetization studies of Nd16Fe76 - xRuxB8 alloys

The intrinsic magnetic properties of Nd16Fe76 - xRuxB8 alloys are investigated by means of Mossbauer spectroscopy and magnetization measurements. The Mossbauer parameters derived from fitting the six sextets assigned to the six different iron sites provide information about preferential site occupation of solute atoms. The cell volume decreases with the Ru substitution for Fe and the shrinkage of the lattice is greater in the c direction than in the a direction of the tetragonal unit cell. The decrease of the spectral area for the subpatterns corresponding to k1 and k2 sites with the substitution indicates that the ruthenium atoms enter preferentially in these sites, whereas the Fe atoms prefer the j-sites. The behavior of the Mossbauer parameters with changes in composition indicates that the ruthenium interactions have long range order character in this compound.