SYNCHROTRON-RADIATION IN THE STUDY OF AMORPHOUS MATERIALS

The present paper illustrates the use of synchrotron radiation for det ermining the structure of amorphous systems. Case studies are presente d to show some relevant results obtained in the study of disordered ma terials, using extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS). Parti cular emphasis is given to the recent successes of X-ray absorption sp ectroscopy in obtaining a quantitative determination of the three body correlation function in glasses and liquids. The potential and limita tions of anomalous X-ray scattering are described and illustrated with examples. The new possibilities opened up by these techniques as well as by the application of other experimental techniques, like inelasti c X-ray scattering, X-ray circular magnetic dichroism and resonant exc hange X-ray scattering are described. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. A ll rights reserved.