New Correction Procedure for X-ray Spectroscopic Fluorescence Data: Simulations and Experiment

X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy is a widely used method for determining the electronic configuration and local structure of dilute species with high sensitivity. In the dilute limit, and for thin films, the X-ray fluorescence signal is directly proportional to the atomic sub-shell absorption coefficient. However, for concentrated samples, the well-documented self-absorption effect often leads to the severe suppression of XANES (X-ray Absorption Near-Edge Structure) and EXAFS (Extended X-ray Absorption Fine-Structure) amplitudes. Thus to recover the real value of the sub-shell absorption coefficient, it is important to apply correction procedures to the measured fluorescence spectra. In this paper, we describe a new straightforward method to correct for self-absorption effects (the difference in the measured fluorescence signal compared to that of the true sub-shell photoabsorption coefficient) in XANES and EXAFS fluorescence measurements. Using a variety of sample and detector configurations, this method is used to extract the sub-shell absorption coefficient on elemental nickel and thick single-crystals of Gd3Ga5O12 and LaAlO3.