Determination of crystallite size in a magnetic nanocomposite using extended x-ray absorption fine structure

An extended x-ray absorption fine structure was collected for a soft magnetic material comprising very fine nanoscale crystallites of nickel within coarser iron matrix grains. Using a simple spherical model and the spectra of bulk standards, the nickel crystallite size was estimated. Comparison with transmission electron microscopy images confirms that this technique yields a size weighted toward smaller crystallites, whereas Scherrer analysis yields sizes weighted toward larger crystallites. The iron crystallite size was also estimated by this technique in order to ascertain the effect of a nonspherical morphology. This technique shows promise for in situ analyses of materials containing nanoscale crystallites and as a complement to Scherrer analyses. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.