Abstract
In situ high pressure (0-1 GPa) Mössbauer spectroscopy has been used to demonstrate for the first time the enhanced compressibility of the intercrystalline (IC) regions of nanocrystalline iron compared with that of bulk crystalline -iron (). The component of the Mössbauer spectra due to IC regions exhibits a pressure-induced reversible change of the center shift that is about an order of magnitude larger than that of crystalline bulk -iron. The effect saturates at pressures above 600 MPa. This change of center shift was removed on pressure annealing the samples, indicating transformation of the interfacial region to a more dense, less compressible structure.
- Received 17 February 1995
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.75.3760
©1995 American Physical Society