Separation of elastically and inelastically scattered γ-radiation from LiNbO₃ by Mössbauer diffraction

Mössbauer diffraction experiments have been performed on a LiNbO₃ single crystal at room temperature for scattering angles between 14.5 and 40.5°. A large contribution of inelastically scattered intensity was detectable for all scattering angles. Radiation damage caused by the high-energy components of the radiation emitted by the ⁵⁷Co Mössbauer source was observed. An attempt was made to estimate the temperature factor B from the measured inelastically scattered radiation assuming that first- order thermal diffuse scattering (TDS) is dominant. Both the TDS contribution to the integrated intensity within the Bragg peak and the ratio of the integrated first-order TDS included in the Bragg peak to that included in the background were calculated with various programs from the elastic constants and compared with the experimental values.