Mossbauer Spectrometry: Testing of a New Computer Based System and Its Application to a Study of an Aluminum-Iron-Cerium Alloy.

In this thesis, a computer based Mossbauer spectrometer was built using a new MS-900 spectrometer, an Apple 2 computer system, and a PDP 1103 computer system. The APPLE was used as the link between the spectrometer and the PDP, which is used to analyze the Mossbauer spectra. In addition to minor hardware connections, software changes were made to the analysis program so that it could accept the data format produced by the new spectrometer. Due to equipment failure, only preliminary tests were made of the new system, however the tests were positive. Originally, an Al-Fe-Ce alloy was chosen to be studied by the new system. Instead, the alloy, chosen because of its excellent high temperature properties, was studied by the original Mossbauer spectrometer system. The goal was to follow and identify changes in the microstructure of the alloy due to different processing stages. Although changes in the spectra were identified with processing stages, it is still unclear as to what compounds are related to the observed spectra. Originator supplied keywords include Mossbauer spectrometry Mossbauer spectroscopy Isomer shift Quadrupole splitting Magnetic hyperfine splitting and Aluminum-iron-cerium alloys.