March 11-13, 2025

March 11-13, 2025#

 

TL;DR

Download all slide decks and other course materials: March2025.zip

X-ray absorption spectroscopy is a core technique of the DOE synchrotron user facilities and attracts diverse scientific communities. This 3-day course offered by NSLS-II experts introduced XAS data analysis to new and prospective users and provided an opportunity to participate in measurements at NSLS-II XAS beamlines. The first two days were devoted to the fundamentals of XAS analysis, data reduction and processing, and the basics of XAS experiments and instrumentation.

Participants were trained on XAS data analysis of increasing complexity. Modern XAS methods such as high-resolution spectroscopy were be introduced. On the third day, the participants participated in experiments at the three XAS beamlines.

Course page at NSLS-II

This course was organized and presented by Lu Ma, Bruce Ravel, and Eli Stavitski with additional lectures by Akhil Tayal and Jorge Moncada Vivas and help from Dali Yang. Kerri Banaszek provided logistical support.

_images/March2025_group_photo.jpg

Fig. 3 The participants and instructors of the March 2025 XAS Workshop#

Tuesday, March 11#

Welcome:

A greeting from the NSLS-II director Elke Arenholz with an overview of the scientific mission of the light source


Introduction to XAS:

Overview of the basic physics and chemistry of XAS


Data reduction and background removal:

An introduction to processing XAS data, including background subtraction and Fourier transforms


EXAFS analysis I:

An introductory EXAFS data analysis problem using FeS2. This is the introduction to fitting EXAFS data analysis with Feff and Artemis


Sample preparation and sample environments:

A discussion of how to plan for your XAS experiment, how to prepare your samples for measurement, and how to plan for in situ and operando experiments


Wednesday, March 12#

XANES analysis and high energy resolution techniques:

Interpretation of the XANES spectrum and an overview of fingerprinting and analysis methods.


EXAFS analysis II:

The FeS2 example from the previous day might seem a bit too simple. It involves analysis of a crystalline material, thus the path through the analysis obviously starts with crystal data. In these two lectures, some ideas are presented about how to perform EXAFS analysis on more complex materials.


Combined techniques:

How to plan for and implement additional measurement techniques such as XRD and DRIFTS during your XAS experiment.


Writing proposals:

Hints and tips for successfully navigating the NSLS-II proposal system (and the proposal systems at other synchrotrons).


Thursday, March 13#

Experimental session:

Hands-on XAS data collection at the NSLS-II hard X-ray spectroscopy beamlines

Data from QAS#

Zip file containing data from QAS: QAS-data.zip

Data from BMM#

The morning session at BMM had to be canceled due to some equipment failures at the beamline.

During the hands-on experiment at BMM in the afternoon, we measured several Mn standards along with the mineral babingtonite in fluorescence at the Mn and Fe edges.

Zip file containing these data and the full electronic log book: BMM-data.zip

ISS exercise: Understanding experimental artifacts#

Zip file containing data from ISS: ISS-data.zip

Contents