ABSTRACT
Whennewtypesofmaterialareinvestigated,oneofthemajoraimsisthe elucidationoftheatomicstructure,aknowledgeofwhichisofcentralimportance fortheunderstandingofthepropertiesofthematerial.Amongtheexperimental techniquesappliedinstructuralinvestigations,scatteringmethodsandextended x-rayabsorptionfine-structurespectroscopy(EXAFS)haveoftenplayedkey roles,largelybecausetheycanprovidedetailedinformationonthestructure inrealspace.Thesetechniquescomplementmicroscopicimagingmethods, suchastransmissionelectronmicroscopy(TEM).Whilemicroscopictechniques havetheadvantageofprovidingthemostdirectinformationontherealspace structure,scatteringtechniquesandEXAFSexaminelargerandsometimesmore representativesamplevolumes.Inaddition,theycanoftenbeappliedtothe sampleasitis,avoidingpotentialartifactscausedbythespecimenpreparation.
