61Ni Mössbauer study of the surface hyperfine magnetic field in nickel

61Ni Mossbauer measurements have been performed at 4.2 K on spherical Ni particles with an average diameter of 100 and 30 A, covered with a protective layer of SiO. Their spectra contain a surface component with a significantly reduced hyperfine magnetic field as compared with the field in the bulk. This result confirms recent theoretical predictions.