EXAFS123 Overview

 

EXAFS123 is an IGOR Pro Program that can be used to data-average and analyze the XANES and EXAFS regions of K-shell X-ray absorption spectra.

 

There are two parts of the program EXAFS123:

a.      The LX Panel: Generates XAS (X-ray Absorption Spectrum) from raw, experimental data.

b.      The EXAFS Panel: analyzes the XAS spectrum generated by the LX Panel.

 

 

Features

 

As you follow the steps outlined in the Tutorial, you'll see how EXAFS123 lets you analyze your data differently and hence more accurately than many other EXAFS Data Analysis Programs.

 

 

XAS Data Workup

 

c.      Designed to read X-ray Absorption scan files collected at NSLS.

d.      You can examine data from a single scan or a single detector at a time in order to find glitches. This helps you pinpoint the faulty scans and detectors and remove them from averaging. You can also remove data points from specific energies (for instance when there is a glitch due to secondary diffraction from the monochromator).

e.      If you are using a solid state fluorescence detector and collected the ungated (ICR) as well as energy-gated fluorescence signal, you can use the ICR to correct the fluorescence data for saturation effects using a feature called deadtime correction.

f.        You can use what you know about the composition of the sample (and windows and air path between the I0 detector and the sample), along with the experimental transmission spectrum, to correct the fluorescence data for thickness effects.

g.      You can use in-line calibration data collected simultaneously with the sample XAS data to calibrate the monochromator energy and correct the energy in the XAS.  If the monochromator is unstable, you can even shift the energy from successive scans by different amounts. This feature is called de-drift correction.

h.      The XAS data can be corrected for the theoretical fall-off of the K-shell absorption coefficient above the edge.  By doing this, the baselines below and above the edge become parallel curves.

 

 

Baseline and XANES analysis

 

1.      The baseline is fit as a polynomial (cubic) spline function, but the same function is used above and below the edge (with, of course, a step-up at the edge).

2.      The edge itself can be modeled as the integral of a Lorenzian peak, integral of a Gaussian peak, or some combination of these (75% Gaussian works well).

3.      Pre-edge peaks can be modeled as Gaussian or Lorenzian (or combination) functions, with position, width, and either area or height refined.

4.      When there are multiple pre-edge peaks, they can be assigned to have the same width (using "Restraints").

 

 

EXAFS Analysis

 

1.      Uses amplitude and phase functions based on FEFF calculations.  These are generated starting with a set of crystal-structure coordinates (for a model compound) using the f7and8runner routine.

2.      Allows flexible application of restraints, such as that the number of atoms in the 3rd shell = n(3rd) = 6 - n(1st) - n(2nd).

3.      Results can be archived so that different types of fits can be performed and compared for each dataset.

4.      The fits to EXAFS data (optionally multiplied by k^n) can be performed simultaneously with or after fitting the baseline and XANES.  After fitting the baseline and XANES, the Fourier-transformed or Fourier-filtered data may be fit.  Weighting schemes may be applied to any of these fits (in the form of specifying an esd of the data).

5.      The noise of the EXAFS spectrum may be reduced by interpolating the data to a 0.1 Angstrom (or similar) grid.

 

To learn to start using the program, click on the right arrow.