Chemical Information in the L3 X-ray Absorption Spectra of Molybdenum Compounds by High-Energy-Resolution Detection and Density Functional Theory

X-ray spectroscopy using high-energy-resolution fluorescence detection (HERFD) has critically increased the information content in X-ray spectra. We extend this technique to the tender X-ray range and present a study at the L₃-edge of molybdenum. We show how information on the oxidation state, phase composition, and local environment in molybdenum-based compounds can be obtained by analyzing the HERFD L₃ X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES). We demonstrate that the chemical shift of the L₃-edge HERFD spectra follows a parabolic dependence on the oxidation state and show that a qualitative analysis of high-resolution spectra can help to estimate parameters such as distortion of a ligand environment and radial order of atoms around the absorber. In certain cases, the spectra allow disentangling the contributions from bond lengths and angles to the distortion of the ligand polyhedron. Comparison of the high-resolution spectra with theoretical simulations shows that the single-electron approximation is able to reproduce the spectral shape. The results of this work may be useful in every branch of physics, inorganic and organometallic chemistry, catalysis, materials science, biochemistry, and mineralogy where observed changes in performance or chemical properties of Mo-based compounds, accompanied by small changes in spectral shape, are to be related to the details of electronic structure and local atomic environment.

TEXS: in-vacuum tender X-ray emission spectrometer with 11 Johansson crystal analyzers

The design and first results of a large-solid-angle X-ray emission spectrometer that is optimized for energies between 1.5 keV and 5.5 keV are presented. The spectrometer is based on an array of 11 cylindrically bent Johansson crystal analyzers arranged in a non-dispersive Rowland circle geometry. The smallest achievable energy bandwidth is smaller than the core hole lifetime broadening of the absorption edges in this energy range. Energy scanning is achieved using an innovative design, maintaining the Rowland circle conditions for all crystals with only four motor motions. The entire spectrometer is encased in a high-vacuum chamber that allocates a liquid helium cryostat and provides sufficient space for in situ cells and operando catalysis reactors.

Preparation, Crystal Chemistry, and Hidden Magnetic Order in the Family of Trigonal Layered Tellurates A2Mn(4+)TeO6 (A = Li, Na, Ag, or Tl)

We report the first four magnetic representatives of the trigonal layered A₂M(4+)TeO₆ (here, M = Mn) family. Na₂MnTeO₆ was synthesized from NaMnO₂, NaNO₃, and TeO₂ at 650-720 °C, but analogues for which A = Li and K could not be obtained by direct synthesis. However, those for which A = Li, Ag, and Tl (but not K) were prepared by exchange reactions between Na₂MnTeO₆ and the corresponding molten nitrates. The oxygen content was verified by redox titration. According to the X-ray diffraction Rietveld analysis, the four new compounds are isostructural with Na₂GeTeO₆, trigonal ( P3̅1 c), based on ilmenite-like layers of edge-shared oxygen octahedra occupied by Mn(4+) and Te(6+) in an ordered manner. These layers are separated by cations A, also in a distorted octahedral coordination. However, off-center displacement of Tl⁺ is so strong, due to the lone-pair effect, that its coordination is better described as trigonal pyramid. Each MnO₆ octahedron shares two opposite faces with AO₆ octahedra, whereas TeO₆ octahedra avoid sharing faces. Besides this double-layered structure, Na₂MnTeO₆ was often accompanied by a transient triple-layered rhombohedral polytype. However, it could not be prepared as a single phase and disappeared on annealing at 700-720 °C. All A₂MnTeO₆ samples (A = Ag, Li, Na, or Tl) revealed the unusual phenomenon of hidden magnetic order. Low-field magnetic susceptibility data exhibit a Curie-Weiss type behavior for all samples under study and do not show any sign of the establishment of long-range magnetic order down to 2 K. In contrast, both the magnetic susceptibility in sufficiently high external magnetic fields and the zero-field specific heat unambiguously revealed an onset of antiferromagnetic order at low temperatures. The frustration index f = Θ/ T_N takes values larger than the classical values for three-dimensional antiferromagnets and implies moderate frustration on the triangular lattice.