Mössbauer insight to metallurgy, materials science and engineering

A brief overview of the contributions which Mössbauer effect spectroscopy has made to areas of materials science is presented. A survey of the literature reveals the decreasing trends of established areas, with emergence in the past decade or so of new areas such as nanostructured materials and materials produced by mechanochemical treatment and the continuing importance of rare-earth magnetic materials. Examples of applications of ⁵⁷Fe and ¹¹⁹Sn Mössbauer spectroscopy, both transmission and backscattering, are discussed. The complementary nature of Mössbauer spectroscopy and neutron diffraction in delineation of the magnetic behaviour and structures of materials is demonstrated by the La_1-χY_χMn₂Si₂ series of rare-earth intermetallic compounds.