Hi Soyoung,
Thanks, this is (or should be) fixed now.
I think that gamma for a Voigt function can be negative. That fits with my experience too: when gamma goes to 0, a Voigt is exactly Gaussian. When gamma is negative, it puts slightly negative tails near the peak (as if subtracting a Lorenztian,
though not exact).
Using Gaussians for pre-edge peaks is completely normal – I think most of the literature does this. The pre-edge peaks have broadened from both “core-level widths” (this will give a Lorentzian profile, in theory) and from the source and
monochromator resolution. The source resolution is Gaussian, and the monochromator resolution is more complicated but Gaussian-ish (sharper tails than Lorentzian). Usually, the source and mono dominate.
For some beamlines with very low source divergence, the Lorentzian term can be noticeable.
In fact, when doing HERFD, it is the core-width that is suppressed, so the peaks become more Gaussian.
Sorry that is is fussier than it should be. The baseline looks good in your plot with gamma ~=0.3. The “baseline” should account for a linear pre-edge and the main line.
But also, after it is determined, you can alter the values for these components. You can even remove these components and add your own fit components to account for the whole curve.
--Matt