A structural study of ceramic oxides by X-ray absorption spectroscopy

A detailed structural study of ceramic oxides is presented by employing X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS). In the present work X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) is used for the investigation of valence state of metal cations; whereas, Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure EXAFS) is employed for the determination for bond lengths, coordination numbers and nature of the elements present in the near neighbour shells surrounding the absorbing atom. These results show that local environment of dopant and host cations are different; and this variation in local structure depends on the nature and concentration of the dopant ions. (author)