EXAFS of Dilute Systems: Fluorescence Detection

Abstract

Since the first observations of the variation of the absorption coefficient for X-rays above the energy thresholds in the thirties until the early seventies, measurements and analysis of these variations were merely intended for the understanding of the underlying physics. Recently, with the understanding of the information available about the local atomic structure in the neighborhood of the absorbing species and the availability of high intensity synchrotron radiation sources, EXAFS has become a powerful structural tool. In the discussions that follow the details of the measurement for very dilute species will be presented. It is shown that for the more dilute systems the measurement of the emission rather than the direct absorption is a more favorable technique.