X-Ray absorption spectroscopy to study metallic clusters

Abstract

Metallic clusters are of considerable interest both from fundamental and technological points of view. A thorough understanding of their structure is a prerequisite to interpreting their physical and chemical properties. The basic concepts of X-ray absorption spectroscopy are recalled here in order to show what kind of information can be provided by this tool. Some results collected from the literature are presented concerning crystallographic structure, lattice parameters and the size of clusters. The importance of X-ray magnetic circular dichroism is also illustrated.