Hi all, As some of you know, I'm currently working on a textbook on XAFS analysis. Because of that, I'm going to occasionally pose some questions for the list that may seem a bit random. I hope none of you mind me using the list in this way; the questions may seem to come out of left field, but I think they will still be of interest to many. With that said, here's my question for today: What is the origin of the use of "self-absorption" to describe the suppression of fine-structure observed in thick, concentrated samples measured in fluorescence? I understand the physics of the effect itself, my question is the curious wording. Compared to a thin concentrated sample, the effect might better be described as "saturation," while compared to a thick dilute sample, it's actually related to a lack of absorption by other elements. --Scott Calvin Faculty at Sarah Lawrence College Currently on sabbatical at Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory