Novel x‐ray spectroscopy probes complex molecules

When the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Project began operating in May experimenters soon were able to demonstrate the great potential that such sources have for studying local atomic arrangements in complex molecules. The technique used goes by the forbidding name of “extended x‐ray absorption fine‐structure spectroscopy” or EXAFS. At the Fourth International Conference on Vacuum Ultraviolet Radiation Physics held in Hamburg, Germany, late in July, Peter Eisenberger (Bell Labs) discussed the EXAFS experiments done by a group that included himself, Brian Kincaid and Sally Hunter (Stanford), Dale Sayers and Edward A. Stern (University of Washington) and Farrel Lytle (Boeing Co.). Eisenberger told the meeting that the unique element‐specific nature of EXAFS shows promise of monitoring changes of environment in complex solids and in systems of interest to chemists and biologists.