Electric-field gradient and mean-squared-displacement tensors in hedenbergite from single-crystal Mössbauer milliprobe measurements

Abstract

We report Mössbauer milliprobe measurements on small single-crystals of a magnesium-rich hedenbergite, approximate composition CaFe_0.54Mg_0.46 (SiO₃)₂, in which each of the electric-field gradient and mean-squared displacement tensors for Fe²⁺ in the M1 site of the crystal are precisely determined. Each tensor has in common, as required of crystal symmetry, the twofold axis of the monoclinic unit cell, but the principal directions of the two tensors in the perpendicular plane are non-coincident. The mean-squared displacements determined in the Mössbauer experiment exceed those determined from the X-ray vibration ellipsoids for Fe²⁺/M1 by a factor of 1.6; the anisotropy in the mean-squared displacement tensor from the Mössbauer measurements exceeds that from X-ray by a factor of around 5. The ramifications of these differences are discussed.