Homogeneity and thermal behaviour of non-crystalline rare earth iron oxides studied by Mossbauer spectroscopy

We report measurements to test the homogeneity and the thermal annealing behaviour of non crystalline (nc) rare earth iron oxides prepared by dc-sputtering. The Mossbauer spectra show that the slowly deposited samples are homogeneous with respect to their thickness. The thermal annealing experiments reveal, that the oxygen deficiency, which is introduced by the sputter process, can be removed prior to crystallization. This proves, that this deficiency is not necessary to stabilize the nc structure.