[Ifeffit] Bond lengths
Scott Calvin
SCalvin at slc.edu
Fri Jul 25 07:55:27 CDT 2008
Hi Bindu,
This is an important and subtle concept.
The error bars generated in EXAFS fitting are an attempt to represent
the uncertainty in the absolute value of each parameter. A large part
of that uncertainty is often due to correlation with other variables;
these correlations are listed in the log file.
Now suppose you have a sequence of data in which it is known that only
one parameter should vary systematically. For example, suppose delE0
and delr for each temperature is unknown, but it is thought that delE0
does not change with temperature. (This is only an example! It
certainly might, particularly if oxidation state changes.) The delr
will have a large uncertainty, but much of that is due to the
correlation with E0: they both could be higher or lower together. But
if it is known that only delr is changing with temperature, then
changes in delr that are smaller than the error bars may be detected
and meaningful.
You'll also see people refer to the resolution of EXAFS data. They are
talking about something like a Rayleigh criterion: how close can two
bond lengths be and be distinguished as different bonds via EXAFS? But
again, suppose it is known that there are two closely spaced bonds,
even though they can't be resolved. If one changes relative to the
other, it will change the MSRD (I.e. show up as a form of static
disorder) if they are modeled as a single bond, and also change the
"bond length" of the combined peak.
So there are plenty of cases where changes smaller than the error bars
are meaningful. In general, though, they require additional knowledge
about the system. If you know nothing about the system and see a
systematic change in the bond length that is much less than the error
bars, it might actually be a change in a correlated variable. Also,
for very small changes, watch the third cumulant as a possible
culprit! The third cumulant is often strongly dependent on
temperature, and correlates with bond length. If you don't fit the
third cumulant, you can think you have a bond length change when you
don't--or even think it's changing in the opposite direction from
what's happening.
Having said that, the fourth decimal point is very hard to pin down.
While it's certainly possible to get a systematic effect over a series
of spectra that shows up in the fourth decimal point, how do you know
for certain it's not one of the other effects I've described? In other
words, I'd say that it's possible to see a phase transition like that
via EXAFS curve fitting, but it's difficult to know exactly what the
structural change that's accompanying it is.
--Scott Calvin
Sarah Lawrence College
On Jul 25, 2008, at 7:58 AM, Bindu R. wrote:
> Hi,
>
>
>
>
> Could you please clarify me, up to what decimal place in the bond
> lengths obtained from EXAFS fitting is reliable?
>
>
>
> If there are changes in the bond lengths in the fourth decimal place
> around the region of phase transition, can one consider this as a
> genuine one even though the error bars obtained from the EXAFS
> fitting are more than the variation in the bond lengths?
>
>
>
> Regards
>
> Bindu
>
>
>
> Dr.Bindu R.
> Visiting Fellow
> BG-37
> DCMP&MS
> Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
> Homi Bhabha Road
> Colaba
> Mumbai-400 005
> India
>
> Contact Number
> Lab- 022-2278 2256, 022-2278 2671
> Mobile-919892536830
>
> Bring your gang together. Do your thing. Find your favourite Yahoo!
> Group._______________________________________________
> Ifeffit mailing list
> Ifeffit at millenia.cars.aps.anl.gov
> http://millenia.cars.aps.anl.gov/mailman/listinfo/ifeffit
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://millenia.cars.aps.anl.gov/pipermail/ifeffit/attachments/20080725/1af65683/attachment.html>
More information about the Ifeffit
mailing list