Journal of Nuclear and Radiochemical Sciences, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 17-20, 2006

ArticlesMössbauer Investigation into the Reactions of Laser-evaporated Iron with Solid Oxygen atLow Temperatures
Y. Yamada* and S. Hirayama
Department of Chemistry, Tokyo University of Science
1-3 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8601, Japan
Received: May 8, 2006; In Final Form: July 14, 2006
Laser-evaporated iron was deposited onto solid oxygen at 20 K to produce stratified samples consisting of Fe andO2 layers. The Mössbauer spectra of these samples were acquired in order to investigate their oxidation states andchemical properties. The reaction produced the trivalent iron oxide particles whose size varied depending on theamount of Fe atoms deposited on the solid oxygen. Samples which had smaller amounts of Fe produced smaller
iron oxide particles having superparamagnetism. When the sample was annealed at 293 K, the size of the ironoxide particles became larger due to aggregation. The sample with the thickest Fe-layer (180 nm) had a pure α-Fe
layer above the iron oxide layer, and the divalent iron oxide was formed after annealing at 293 K.

1. Introduction
Laser-ablation has been studied extensively and has been
applied to many fields including the surface treatment of solids
and the formation of thin films. Laser-evaporation is a very
useful method for vaporizing various kinds of materials without causing radiant heating of surrounding materials. This
makes it a convenient method for vaporizing materials near acold head in a cryostat in order to study low-temperature reactions. We have previously reported reactions of laser-evaporated iron atoms with various reactant gases using a lowtemperature matrix isolation technique and Mössbauer spectroscopy.1-4 The reactions of laser-evaporated iron atoms withoxygen produced FeO, Fe(O 2 ), FeO3 , (O 2 )FeO 2 , and OFeO
which are reaction products of the gas phase and are trapped ina low temperature Ar matrix.5 We have also reported laserdeposition of Fe metal onto Al or Si substrates at various temperatures, 6 and the formation of Fe-Al alloy or Fe-Si
compounds was observed at the boundary between the Fe-films
and the Al or Si substrate. Laser-deposition of hematite ormagnetite onto Al substrates produced iron oxide films whosecomposition varied depending on the substrate temperature.7
Thereby laser-deposition has the possibility of producing functional films whose chemical compositions and physical properties can be controlled.
Here, we report the reactions of laser-evaporated Fe withsolid oxygen at 20 K. While the experimental setup is very
similar to that employed in our previous matrix-isolation studies,5 in this study the Fe atoms and O2 gas are introduced alternately to the cold substrate in order to investigate the reactionof Fe with solid oxygen rather than the gas-phase reactions.
This study is also a useful cross reference for the 57Mn in-beam
Mössbauer study of solid oxygen,8 although the densities of57
Fe and 57Mn atoms are very different. Furthermore the reactions of laser-evaporated Fe atoms with solid oxygen may
potentially provide a new technique for producing iron oxide
particles or films.
2. Experimental
The experimental setup is almost the same as that employed*Corresponding author. E-mail: yyasu@rs.kagu.tus.ac.jp. Fax:
+81-3-5228-8276

for our previous matrix-isolation studies.5 Briefly, the secondharmonic laser light of a YAG laser pulse (Continuum Surelite,532 nm, 200 mJ/pulse, 6 ns) was focused using a convex lens
onto a 57Fe metal target, and the iron atoms were laser-evaporated. One laser pulse evaporates 2 × 10 -9 mol/pulse. The O2
gas was introduced via an electric pulse valve onto the Al substrate (40 µm) that was cooled down to 20 K using a closedcycle helium refrigerator (Iwatani Cryomini-D). The
deposition area was 3.4 cm2. The introduction of O2 was accumulative, and the stratified sample consisting of O2 layers andFe layers was produced. The Mössbauer spectra of the sample
were acquired using a 57Co/Rh source in transmission geometry on a Wissel MDU1200 system.
3. Results and discussion
A schematic diagram of the stratified samples (A, B, C, D,and E) produced on the Al substrates at 20 K is shown inFigure 1. The thicknesses indicated in the figure are the equivalent values calculated from the amount of O2 gas introduced
and the amount of laser-evaporated 57Fe atoms. For example,the sample C shown in Figure 1c consists of O2 layers and Felayers which have equivalent thicknesses of 1.7 µm and 11 nm,respectively. There were 25 such double layers in order that forthere to be sufficient 57Fe amounts to acquire a good Mössbauer
spectrum; the corresponding Mössbauer spectrum, which wasacquired at 20 K, is shown in Figure 2c. The actual boundariesof the O2 and 57 Fe layers are not smooth as indicated in theFigure 1. The actual boundaries would be rough and reactions
might occur on the boundaries.
The thickest Fe layer was 180 nm (sample A, Figure 1a) andthe Mössbauer spectrum for this sample (Figure 2a) has two
sets of sextets, which correspond to iron oxide and α-iron. TheMössbauer parameters of the iron/oxygen-stratified samples
are summarized in Table 1. The iron oxide produced by thesesamples is trivalent Fe2O3 with hyperfine magnetic fields of422 kOe. The Mössbauer parameters of this iron oxide do notcorrespond to those of commonly known trivalent iron oxides
crystals such as hematite (α-Fe2O3) or maghemaite (γ-Fe2O3).
Structures of iron hydroxides and iron oxides are closely related
because their surrounding natures of Fe atoms with O atoms
are similar. Among commonly known iron hydroxides lepidocrocite (γ-FeOOH) is reported to have a small magnetic hyperfine field (458 kOe at 4.2 K),9 but the iron oxide produced in© 2006 The Japan Society of Nuclear and Radiochemical Sciences
Published on Web 11/01/2006

YamadaJ. Nucl. Radiochem. Sci., Vol. 7, No. 2, 2006(b) B

← 57Fe100.2

123(a) A180 nm← O295 µm← Al40 µm← 57Fe19 nm←O2100.0

1 period99.899.6a99.4
100.2

123

18100.0

10 period

99.8

1.1 µm

99.6b99.457

Fe11 nmO2

1.7 µm25 period

Relative intensity / %(c) C

←
←

123

99.2
100.0
99.5
99.0

c

98.5

100.0(d) DFe

←
← O2

123

99.6
57

4.8 nmd99.2

40 period
98.8

3.2 µm

100.0
99.5
99.098.557← Fe 0.02 nm
←
O2
23 nm

123(e) E

e8640 period

98.0-10-50Velocity / mm s510-1

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of stratified samples (A, B, C, D, andE) consisting of 57Fe and O2 layers. The thicknesses indicated in thefigure are the equivalent values calculated from the amount of 57Feand O2 introduced.

Figure 2. Mössbauer spectra of Fe/O2 stratified samples (A, B, C, D,and E) at 20 K. The equivalent thicknesses of 57Fe/O2 layers are (a)180 nm/95 µm (A), (b) 19 nm/1.1 µm (B), (c) 11 nm/1.7 µm (C), (d)4.8 nm/3.2 µm (D), and (e) 0.02 nm/23 nm (E).

this study has an even smaller magnetic hyperfine field. Thissmall hyperfine magnetic field (422 kOe) may be attributed tolarge defects in its crystal structure or to small particle size.
57
Fe reacted with O2 to form iron oxides at the interface of the57
Fe and O2 layers, and the 57Fe atoms that did not react with O2
were deposited to form an α-Fe (H = 330 kOe) layer on top of
the iron oxide layer. From the area intensities of the Mössbauer
spectrum, the thicknesses of iron oxide (Fe2O3) and the pureiron (α-Fe) layers are calculated to be 70 and 110 nm, respectively.
The sample B with 57 Fe layers having an equivalent thickness of 19 nm (Figure 1b and Figure 2b) does not show the sextet absorption of α-Fe, instead doublet absorption wasobserved, which was assigned to superparamagnetic fine ironoxide particles. In addition, the sextet of iron oxide (Fe2O3)
was observed. The amount of 57Fe atoms introduced was notenough to form large Fe2O3 particles, and hence the Fe2O3 layer
was too thin to stabilize the unreacted 57Fe layer. The sample
C having thinner 57Fe layers (Figure 1c) has doublet absorption
and a broad absorption exhibiting relaxation. The small size ofthe iron oxide particle gives a relaxation spectrum because ofsuperparamagnetism. Although the particle size may have asize distribution, the relaxation spectrum is fitted by assuming
it has a single relaxation time using Wickman’s formula
described in Reference 10; the relaxation time estimated by thismethod is 3.5 ns. The spectrum D shown in Figure 2d is also
fitted by two components: a doublet and a relaxation component. The relaxation time of the superparamagnetic componentis 2.6 ns, which is a narrower absorption than that estimated forthe spectrum shown in Figure 2c. The spectrum shown inFigure 2e (sample E) is fitted by one doublet absorption with-out any magnetic hyperfine components. The doublet absorptions (for Figures 2b, c, d, and e) have almost identical
Mössbauer parameters, and the area intensities become larger
as the 57 Fe layers become thinner. This doublet component
may be attributed to fine particles of Fe2O3 or to an amorphous
component which is too small to have a magnetic hyperfine
structure even at 20 K. We have previously investigated theMössbauer spectra of an iron oxide species isolated in a lowtemperature Ar matrix,5 and the Fe(O2) had similar Mössbauer
parameters (δ = 0.35 mm/s and ∆EQ = 0.96 mm/s) to that of thedoublet (δ = 0.40 mm/s and ∆EQ = 1.02 mm/s) observed in thisstudy. But the infrared spectrum of the sample acquired under
the same conditions did not show any absorption bands corresponding to Fe(O2) (979 cm-1), and this species may not stabilize after the deposition of Fe atoms on the solid oxygen.
Therefore we assigned the doublet to very small-sized oxide
particles Fe2O3. The Mössbauer parameters for the doublet arein agreement with the parameters reported for superparamagnetic γ-Fe2O3 particles reported in Reference 11 (δ = 0.35 mm/sand ∆EQ = 0.72 mm/s). Mössbauer parameters of ε-Fe2O3 particles reported in literature12 are not in agreement with ourexperimental results. The larger ∆E Q value of the observed
doublet is due to the inhomogeneity of the size and crystallinityof the iron oxide Fe2O3 particles.
The sample A shown in Figure 2a, which had the α-Fe layer,
was annealed in order to investigate how its compositionchanged upon heating. The temperature of the sample wasincreased to room temperature (293 K), and O2 molecules werevaporized and evacuated, while iron species, which have a low
vapor pressure, remained on the Al substrate. The Mössbauer
spectrum acquired at room temperature (Figure 3a) shows aMössbauer Investigation into the Reactions of Laser-evaporated IronJ. Nucl. Radiochem. Sci., Vol. 7, No. 2, 2006

19TABLE 1: Mösbauer parameters of iron/oxygen stratified samples at 20 K
SampleTemperature(K)

Componentδ (mm/s)∆EQ (mm/s)

H (kOe)Γ(mm/s)A20

α-Fe
sextet0.00
0.39(5)0.00–0.24(8)330422(3)

1.83(20)
1.77(13)

57
43

B

20

doubletsextet0.30(7)0.43(3)

1.11(11)–0.04(5)426(2)

0.32(2)
1.29(5)

2179

C

20

doubletrelaxation

0.28(3)0.17(9)1.45(6)0.22(17)422

0.86(12)0.16(6)

3.5(4)

2575

D

20

doubletrelaxation

0.37(2)0.16(18)

1.20(4)–0.06(36)430(26)0.76(9)0.15(7)

2.6(6)

3763

E

20

doublet0.40(1)1.02(2)A

293

relaxation

0.77(7)1.10(15)270(46)0.42(5)0.7(2)

100

A after annealing

20

doubletrelaxation

0.70(2)0.77

0.86(4)1.10

2700.50(5)0.96(15)

2.7(3)

14
86

B

293

doublet0.33(1)0.97(2)

B after annealing

20

sextet0.44(2)0.01(5)relaxation
time (ns)0.86(3)432(2)

Area intensity
(%)

100

0.49(3)100

1.07(6)

100

100.5
100

99.5
99.0

Relative intensity / %Relative intensity / %100.0a98.5
100.099.5

ba9998100.099.5

b99.0
99.0
-10-50Velocity / mm s

510-1-10-50

Velocity / mm s

510-1Figure 3. Mössbauer spectra of Fe/O2 stratified sample A (57Fe/O2 =180 nm/95 µm) observed at 293 K (a) and 20 K (b).

Figure 4. Mössbauer spectra of Fe/O2 stratified sample B (57Fe/O2 =19 nm/1.1 µm) observed at 293 K (a) and 20 K (b).

broad absorption, which is assigned to superparamagnetic ironoxide species having very small particle sizes. While the ironoxide particles may have a distribution of particle sizes andrelaxation times, it is very difficult to fit the acquired relaxation spectrum by taking the size distribution of the iron oxide
particles into account. Therefore the spectrum was fitted
assuming a single relaxation time. The fitted result is shown inFigure 3a and the parameters obtained are given in Table 1; it
has a large δ value (0.77 mm/s) which is assigned to Fe(II) species. The magnetic hyperfine field was small (H = 270 kOe)
which is in good agreement with the small hyperfine field ofFe(II) species. The right shoulder of the absorption was attributed to the ∆E Q (1.10 mm/s) of the absorption with relaxation.
The temperature of the sample A was then reduced to 20 Kagain. The Mössbauer spectrum at 20 K (Figure 3b) had abroader absorption with a longer relaxation time than thatobserved at room temperature (Figure 3a). The spectrum wasfitted assuming that the broad component had the same δ, ∆EQ,and H values as those of Figure 3a, and it also had a doubletcomponent. The relaxation time became longer (2.7 ns) andthe doublet ( δ = 0.70 mm/s and ∆ E Q = 0.86 mm/s) has theMössbauer parameters assigned to a Fe(II) species. The spectrum acquired at 20 K did not have a component due to α-Fe
and it reacted with O2 to form iron oxide when the temperature

was increased. Although iron oxide Fe2 O3 with magnetic
hyperfine splitting was observed at 20 K before increasing thetemperature (Figure 2a), the Mössbauer spectrum observed
after annealing (Figure 3b) had a shorter relaxation time
because of the smaller particle size, indicating that the Fe2O3particles did not aggregate to form larger particles on annealing. The divalent iron oxide FeO was produced by the reactionof pure Fe with O2 and by the reduction of trivalent iron oxide
Fe2O3 with pure Fe.
Next, we annealed the sample B shown in Figure 2b toinvestigate the thermal reactions of a sample not having pureα-Fe. When the temperature of the sample B was increased toroom temperature 293 K, the solid O2 layers evaporated andonly the iron oxide remained on the Al substrate as large particles. The Mössbauer spectrum acquired at room temperature(Figure 4a) had only one doublet, which was assigned to theFe2O3 particles which exhibit superparamagnetism at high temperatures. The isomer shift (δ = 0.33 mm/s) of this doublet isthat of trivalent iron oxide Fe2O3 while it has a relatively large
quadruple splitting (∆E Q = 0.97 mm/s) value. This sample B
was again cooled to 20 K (Figure 4b), and the Mössbauer spectrum acquired at this temperature had a sextet absorption. The
chemical composition or particle size may be the same as thatfor the sample in Figure 4a, and the only differences observed

20

YamadaJ. Nucl. Radiochem. Sci., Vol. 7, No. 2, 2006

were due to the different temperatures at which the Mössbauer
spectra were acquired. Comparing the spectra of the samples
B before (Figure 2b) and after annealing (Figure 4b), the doublet component disappeared and the component due to ironoxide Fe2O3 with magnetic hyperfine splitting increased. On
annealing the sample B (Figure 2b) and subliming the solid
oxygen, the iron oxide particles aggregate to form larger Fe2O3particles which have magnetic hyperfine splitting at 20 K,
although their size was not large enough to exhibit magnetismat room-temperature. Reduction of trivalent iron oxide Fe2O3
to form divalent iron oxide FeO was not observed because there
was no pure α-Fe layer in this sample.
Laser-deposition of Fe onto solid oxygen at 20 K producediron oxide Fe2O3 particles, and the species obtained by matrixisolation studies were not found even at low temperatures (20K). The Fe2O3 layer was formed up to thicknesses of 70 nm,
and it had a small hyperfine magnetic field in the range 420 –430 kOe. Laser-deposition of Fe onto solid O2 may provide anew method to produce small Fe2O3 particles.
4. Conclusion
Laser-evaporated Fe was deposited onto solid oxygen at 20
K. Samples having thinner Fe layers produced smaller particles of trivalent iron oxide Fe2O3. The measured Mössbauer
parameters for Fe2O3 particles do not correspond to those for
known iron oxide crystals, and they may have a large numberof defects. When the temperature of the sample was increased
to 297 K, aggregation of the Fe2O3 particles to form larger particles was observed. When there was a large amount of laserdeposited Fe present, a layer of pure α-Fe formed on the Fe2O3layer. On annealing the sample at 293 K, reduction of the trivalent oxide Fe2O3 to the divalent iron oxide FeO was observed

due to the reduction reaction with pure Fe. It was demonstrated
that laser deposition of Fe onto solid oxygen produces particlesof iron oxide having a novel structure, and that the particle size
was determined by the amount of Fe deposited.
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