- Wissel MVT-1000 speed transducer
- Mössbauer drive unit MR-260 by Wissel
- Canberra 2022 amplifier
- Wissel HVS-2 high voltage source
- Halder single channel analyzers
- National Instruments PCIe-6341 PCI multifunction card
The Mössbauer Spectroscopy Laboratory is a category two radioactive facility authorized by the Radioactive Activities Coordination Service of the General Directorate of Energy, Industrial Safety and Mining Safety. They work with one or two 57Co encapsulated sources with a maximum activity of 1.5 GBq. The infraestructure have the capacity to measure up to four samples in solid state at room temperature and pressure.
The laboratory is part of the facilities of the Materials Characterisation Group of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, a research group with extensive experience in the research of new materials, especially what are known as metal glasses and materials of cultural and historical interest. It is part of a consolidated research group recognized by the Government of Catalonia (SGR) and has continuously been awarded research projects funded by the Government of Spain, the Government of Catalonia and the European Union. Notably, its members are regular users of large scientific facilities, such as synchrotrons, where they have had measurement time for more than 60 projects in ISIS, ILL, ESRF, DIAMOND, ALBA, SOLEIL, ANKA and ALS.
The Mössbauer effect is the nuclear resonant absorption without recoil of gamma rays and is particularly suitable for the study of Fe-containing alloys. One of the key features of Mössbauer spectroscopy is that it is a local probe. This allows the nondestructive study of chemically and structurally disordered materials and the study of occupation or vacancy of crystallographic sites in crystalline materials. The technique is one of the few spectroscopies that can achieve this without the use of synchrotron radiation. This is especially useful in the study of metals and alloys where, for example, the substitution of some Fe atoms in the structure can improve or reduce the magnetism of the sample.