⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer studies at high pressures and low temperatures

A brief description is given of a new facility that permits⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy (MS) studies in transmission geometry to be made in the range 10-300 K on absorbers pressurized in a diamond-anvil cell. Examples are given of good quality spectra which have each been obtained in 20-30 hours by using a "point" source of ∼5mCi in conjunction with absorbers that have a comparatively low-enrichment (10-20%) of⁵⁷Fe. The successful execution of⁵⁷Fe MS at high pressures and variable cryogenic temperatures has been achieved by making simple refinements to existing elements of high-pressure MS methodology. The facility described herein finds important application in fields of geophysics and condensed matter physics.