A single line linearly polarized source for Mössbauer spectroscopy

A single line source of linearly polarized radiation in a conventional Mössbauer setup working at room temperature with ⁵⁷Co in Cr matrix was constructed. The ordered Fe₃Si was used as a filter. The estimated degree of polarization of the source depends on the preparation and thickness of the polarizer. The best polarization degree (92 ± 8)% was achieved. The measurements with polarized radiation lead to significant simplification of the complex spectra and allow to study components arising from various polarizations separately. In particular, it is possible to extract Δm = (1, −1) and Δm = 0 transitions by use of a linearly polarized beam. Moreover polarized beam can be used for determination of texture parameters related to spatial arrangements of spins in the plane perpendicular to the radiation beam. Such parameters are not easily measurable by other methods. The Mössbauer spectra of invar Fe₆₅Ni₃₅ measured by monochromatic linearly polarized radiation are shown as an example.