This book is intended for those who are interested in practical applications of Mössbauer spectroscopy and therefore demands a basic knowledge of the underlying principles. The current state of the art is demonstrated using examples from materials science drawn from the following areas: Chemistry, mineralogy and metallurgy, artificially structured materials, nanosized materials and quasicrystals, and experimental techniques and data processing. The various techniques of Mössbauer spectroscopy are reviewed (transmission geometry, source experiments, detection of conversion electrons, backscattering geometry, various probe atoms, etc.). Studies of technologically important materials are presented (oxides, alloys, phosphates, fluorides, nitrides, steels, diamonds, minerals both terrestrial and extraterrestrial, zeolites, multilayers, amorphous solids, nanocrystalline alloys, etc.). Methodological aspects and new trends are illustrated using examples of experimental procedures comprising measurements in situ, under controlled atmosphere, at high pressure, with synchrotron radiation, as well as new instrumentation (including a miniaturised spectrometer for space missions) and data evaluation software.
