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Mössbauer milliprobe studies of small mineral samples with a silicon drift detector

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Abstract

Analysis of 57Fe transmission Mössbauer spectra collected on a system where the proportional counter has been replaced with a silicon drift detector (SDD) to test milliprobing of mineral samples is described. In the region of the 14.4 keV Mössbauer line the detector has about 70% efficiency and is capable of delivering spectroscopic information with a high energy resolution and high counting rate. Satisfactory results are obtained from a phase analysis of mixtures of olivine and ilmenite in the proportion 97:3, 99:1 wt%, where in the latter case 2.4 μg of Fe3+ in the form of hematite was found in the ilmenite. New perovskite-type minerals (Pb1.33Ba0.67Fe2O5, Pb1.33Sr0.67Fe2O5 and Pb1.33Ba0.33Sr0.33Fe2O5), synthesised by a combustion method, were studied by X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy as well. The advantage of the system with SDD compared to a conventional Mössbauer spectrometer equipped with a proportional counter as a detector is demonstrated for the perovskite samples. The Mössbauer set-up with the silicon drift detector may be successfully used for a wide range of materials containing a negligible amount of iron.

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Acknowledgments

This work is a result of Bulgaria–USA international collaboration (NSF support: INT-EAR 0329596 to LD and HWG). Financial support provided by the Bulgarian Ministry of Education through Grant CECOA is gratefully acknowledged. D. K. and P. T. thank the National Science Fund of Bulgaria (Contract no. BM-03/2006) for financial support. We thank Dr. Kristina Kolcheva and Prof. Georgi Kirov (University of Sofia) for providing us with the ilmenite sample and for their useful consultations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy, Tsarigradsko shosse 72, 1784, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Todor Ruskov & Ivan Spirov

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California at Riverside, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA

    Harry W. Green II & Larissa Dobrzhinetskaya

  3. Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry, Acad. G. Bontchev str., bl.11, 1113, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Daniela Kovacheva & Peter Tzvetkov

  4. Department of Mineralogy, Petrology and Economic Geology, University of Sofia, Tsar Osvoboditel 15, 1504, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Milena Georgieva

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  1. Todor Ruskov
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  2. Ivan Spirov
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  3. Harry W. Green II
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  4. Daniela Kovacheva
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  5. Peter Tzvetkov
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  6. Milena Georgieva
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  7. Larissa Dobrzhinetskaya
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Correspondence to Todor Ruskov.

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Ruskov, T., Spirov, I., Green, H.W. et al. Mössbauer milliprobe studies of small mineral samples with a silicon drift detector. Phys Chem Minerals 35, 485–491 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00269-008-0243-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00269-008-0243-5

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