INSITU MOSSBAUER STUDIES OF VAPOR QUENCHED AG/FE AND AU/FE FILMS

Metastable alloys of Agl-xFex (x = 0.17, 0.30, 0.50, 0.54, 0.56 and 1.0) and the stable Au1-yFey (y = 0.18 and 0.25) alloy were prepared as thin films by vapor quenching method on low temperature kapton substrate. The X-ray diffraction spectra of all Ag/Fe samples, with x less-than-or-equal-to 0.56, have indication of fcc structure with very small grain size. The present work reports in-situ Mossbauer results on Ag/Fe and Au/Fe films. The spectra obtained are characteristic of homogeneous disordered alloy with broad magnetic hyperfine field distribution. Aging effect inducing cluster formation was observed in Ag/Fe films after they were heated to room temperature, but this behavior was not detected in Au/Fe samples.