Ni61Mössbauer study of the hyperfine magnetic field near the Ni surface

${}_{}{}^{61}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Ni}$ Mössbauer measurements have been performed at 4.2 K on spherical Ni particles covered with a protective layer of SiO, with average diameter of 500 and 50 Å. The hyperfine magnetic field at ${}_{}{}^{61}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Ni}$ nuclei for 500-Å particles has been found to be 78.3(4) kOe, compared with the field for Ni foil of 75.0(2) kOe. The small difference is due to the demagnetization and dipolar fields in 500-Å particles. The spectrum of 50-Å particles has a surface component with the corresponding value of the hyperfine magnetic field of 40.3(5.4) kOe. This strongly indicates that, in accordance with recent theoretical studies, there is a decrease of the hyperfine magnetic field in the surface layer of nickel.