Local structural data, EXAFS spectra

If the difference in atomic number between the absorber element and the backscattering element is >10 and if only one kind of element backscatters, EXAFS spectra can be analyzed readily to provide local structural data on adsorbed species. However, because the electron mean free path, thermal and static disorder parameters (Debye-Waller factors), and coordination number for an absorber environment cannot be determined a priori with sufficient accuracy, EXAFS data for suitable reference compounds of known molecular structure must be used to help interpret the EXAFS spectrum for an interfaeial region. 

As mentioned in the Introduction, there are two approaches to obtaining information on the local atomic structure from SEFS spectra in both EXAFS and EXAFS-like methods. The first approach is based on the calculation of the oscillating structure of the spectrum for a local atomic configuration and subsequent comparison between the obtained result and the experimental data. The second approach consist in solving the inverse problem to obtain the atomic pair correlation function (PCF) from the experimental oscillating part of a spectrum. 

A non exhaustive description of the history of X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) can be found in Ref. 1. The modem EXAFS (Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure) technique began in the early seventies of the last century. It corresponds to the concomitance of both theoretical and experimental developments. Between 1969 and 1975, Stem, Sayers and Lytle succeeded in interpreting theoretically the X-ray Absorption Structures observed above an absorption edge [2], while during the same period, the advent of synchrotron radiation (SR) sources reduced drastically the acquisition time of a spectrum if compared to data obtained with conventional X-ray tubes. XAS provides essential information about the local atomic geometry and the electronic and chemical state of a specific atom, for almost any element of the periodic table (Z>5). This prime tool for... 

Thus, with allowance for both the first-order and second-order processes, the secondary electron spectrum fine structure is formed by oscillations of two types, which are determined by the same local atomic structure but different wave numbers this is the main difference of SEFS spectra from EXAFS and EELFS spectra. It is just this qualitative difference that must determine the characteristic features of SEFS spectra, and it must be taken into account in obtaining parameters of the local atomic structure from experimental data. However, it should be pointed out that a signal from two final states can be observed also in EXAFS and EELFS spectra in the case of the excitation of two closely spaced levels. And though the mechanism of appearance of these signals differs from that in the case of SEFS, nevertheless conceivably the analogous problem must be solved also for these traditional methods. 

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