A detailed x-ray-absorption fine-structure (XAFS) investigation of two
mixed alkali halides Rb0.76K0.24Br and RbBr0.62Cl0.38 was performed.
The concentrations of the mixtures had been chosen to produce a single
homogeneous phase for each, and it was checked by XAFS that the salts
were randomly mixed on the atomic level. Detailed analysis of the dat
a including multiple-scattering contributions revealed an rms buckling
angular deviation of both mixtures from the average NaCl collinear st
ructure of 7-9-degrees. The angles are defined by three atomic positio
ns determined through double- and triple-scattering paths. These angle
s are new parameters which should be added to characterize the buckled
crystals. Adding to diffraction results the parameters determined fro
m XAFS as input into a molecular-dynamics simulation the structures of
the mixed salts with their fluctuations about the NaCl structure are
solved and displayed.