Mössbauer Spectroscopy: Elegance and Versatility in Chemical Diagnostics

Gütlich, P. Garcia, Yann [UCL]

Dedicated to Professor Rudolf Ludwig Mössbauer on the occasion of his 80th birthday . Soon after the discovery of the recoilless nuclear resonance fluorescence by Rudolf L. Mössbauer some fifty years ago a new spectroscopic technique developed quickly on the basis of this resonance phenomenon as an excellent tool for the investigation of materials through electric and magnetic hyperfine interactions between electrons and suitable Mo uml ssbauer nu-clides. Many disciplines of solid state research have benefited from applications of the new tool for non-destructive phase analysis. Chemists in particular have recognized the information that can be derived from Mo uml ssbauer spectra regarding oxidation and spin state, molecular symmetry, bonding properties, magnetism, dynamic phenomena such as spin state switching, electronic transfer processes and other phase fluctuations to name a few. This Keynote Lecture presents highlights of chemical applications of Mössbauer spectroscopy selected from work during the past five decades which will demonstrate the elegance and versatility of the technique in the hands of (not only) chemists, but materials scientists in the broadest sense. The retrospect begins with studies in the early sixties on simple oxides and coordination compounds, where Mo uml ssbauer spectroscopy played a decisive role in solving unanswered questions, and concludes with fascinating current discoveries on the Planet Mars and most recent developments in the use of synchrotron radiation for nuclear resonance scattering (NFS, NIS).