XAFS.ORG is a community site for x-ray absorption fine-structure (XAFS) and related spectroscopies.


Important Note: XAFS.ORG Content is moving!!

The content of this site will be moved to a new Wiki sponsored by the IXAS:

This migration may take a few months (spring, summer 2013), but please use that wiki for new content! XAFS.ORG will stay around for awhile, but should be superseded by the new wiki.


XAFS, EXAFS, and XANES

XAFS is a spectroscopic technique that uses x-rays to probe the physical and chemical structure of matter at an atomic scale. XAFS is element-specific, in that x-rays are chosen to be at and above the binding energy of a particular core electronic level of a particular atomic species. Because all but the lightest elements have core-level binding energies in the x-ray regime, nearly all elements can be studied with XAFS. The emphasis has traditionally been on the heavier elements (of Z>15 or so).

An energy-tunable x-ray source is needed to measure XAFS, which typically means a synchrotron is used. Unlike diffraction-based techniques for studying atomic structure of matter, XAFS does not require a crystalline samples.

More information about XAFS can be found on the pages here, and at:

About this site

XAFS.ORG is a Wiki, which is to say that the content of this web site can be edited and extended by anyone.

For more information about how to use this wiki, see:

XAFS (last edited 2013-03-10 16:55:53 by MattNewville)