X-ray absorption and Raman spectroscopy studies of tungstates solid solutions ZncNi1-cWO4 (c=0.0-1.0)

G.B. acknowledges the financial support provided by the State Education Development Agency for project No. 1.1.1.2/VIAA/3/19/444 (agreement No. 1.1.1.2/16/I/001) realized at the Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia. A.K. and A.K. would like to thank the support of the Latvian Council of Science project No. lzp-2019/1-0071. Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART2.The influence of thermal disorder and static distortions on the local structure in microcrystalline solid solutions of tungstates ZncNi1-cWO4 with c = 0.0–1.0 was investigated using temperature-dependent (10–300 K) x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at the W L3-edge. In addition, the vibrational properties of the solid solutions were studied by Raman spectroscopy. Our results indicate that the formation of solid solutions is accompanied by strong structural relaxations leading to the changes in the [WO6] octahedra distortions, which, in turn, affect the vibrational properties of tungstates. In particular, the frequency and band width of the highest W–O stretching mode at about 900 cm-1 show distinct composition dependence, following the local structure modifications as revealed by XAS.State Education Development Agency for project No. 1.1.1.2/VIAA/3/19/444 (agreement No. 1.1.1.2/16/I/001); Latvian Council of Science project No. lzp-2019/1-0071; Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART2

Study of the thermochromic phase transition in CuMo1−xWxO4 solid solutions at the W L3-edge by resonant X-ray emission spectroscopy

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: I. Pudza, A. Kalinko, A. Cintins, A. Kuzmin, Acta Mater. 205 (2021) 116581, which has been published in final form at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1359645420310181 This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Elsevier Terrms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.Polycrystalline CuMo1−xWxO4 solid solutions were studied by resonant X-ray emission spectroscopy (RXES) at the W L3-edge to follow a variation of the tungsten local atomic and electronic structures across thermochromic phase transition as a function of sample composition and temperature. The experimental results were interpreted using ab initio calculations. The crystal-field splitting parameter Δ for the 5d(W)-states was obtained from the analysis of the RXES plane and was used to evaluate the coordination of tungsten atoms. Temperature-dependent RXES measurements were successfully employed to determine the hysteretic behaviour of the structural phase transition between the α and γ phases in CuMo1−xWxO4 solid solutions on cooling and heating, even at low (x 0.15 in the whole studied temperature range (90-420 K), whereas their coordination changes from tetrahedral to octahedral upon cooling for smaller (x ≤ 0.15) tungsten content. Nevertheless, some amount of tungsten ions was found to co-exists in the octahedral environment at room temperature for x < 0.15. The obtained results correlate well with the color change in these solid solutions.Financial support provided by Scientific Research Project for Students and Young Researchers Nr. SJZ/2019/1 realized at the Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia is greatly acknowledged. The used infrastructure of the von Hamos spectrometer was realized in the frame of projects FKZ 05K13UK1 and FKZ 05K14PP1. The experiment at the PETRA III synchrotron was performed within the project No. I-20180615 EC.The synchrotron experiments have been supported by the project CALIPSOplus under the Grant Agreement 730872 from the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation HORIZON 2020. The experiment at the Elettra synchrotron was performed within the project No. 20150303. Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART2

Thermal disorder and correlation effects in anti-perovskite-type copper nitride

This work has been supported by the Latvian National Research Program IMIS2. The EXAFS experiment has been financed from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement No. 226716 (Project I-20100098 EC). J.T. also gratefully acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation under the DMREF program Grant No. CHE-1534184.Reverse Monte Carlo simulations coupled with evolutionary algorithm were employed for the analysis of the temperature dependent (10–300 K) Cu K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra of polycrystalline copper nitride (Cu3N) with the goal to extract information on the thermal disorder and interatomic correlations in anti-perovskite-type crystal lattice. The obtained results are discussed in comparison with metallic copper and perovskite-type rhenium trioxide. The analysis of EXAFS spectra suggests that the anisotropy of copper atom vibrations is significantly enhanced upon increasing temperature, leading to pronounced tilting motion of NCu6 octahedra. Strong correlation in the motion of atoms was found along –N–Cu–N– atomic chains but it reduces rapidly with an increase of interatomic distance. Finally, anticorrelated motion of neighboring Cu atoms occurs along Cu–Cu bonds and is consistent with breathing-type motion of NCu6 octahedra.National Science Foundation CHE-1534184; Seventh Framework Programme 226716; Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART

Low temperature X-ray absorption spectroscopy study of CuMoO4 and CuMo0.90W0.10O4 using reverse Monte-Carlo method

Reversible thermochromic phase transition between α- and γ-phases was studied in CuMoO4 and CuMo0.90W0.10O4 using X-ray absorption spectroscopy in the temperature range of 10–300 K. Reverse Monte Carlo modelling with evolutionary algorithm approach at several absorption edges simultaneously was applied to extract structural information encoded in the experimental EXAFS spectra. The obtained results show that an addition of 10 mol% of tungsten to CuMoO4 induces local distortions in the structure and stabilizes the γ-phase, leading to an increase of the phase transition temperature by ~50–100 K.This work was supported by Scientific Research Project for Students and Young Researchers Nr. SJZ/2017/5 realized at the Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia . The experiment at HASYLAB/ DESY was performed within the project I- 20160149 EC . The research leading to this result has been supported by the project CALIPSOplus under the Grant Agreement 730872 from the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation HORIZON 2020; Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART

Treatment of disorder effects in X-ray absorption spectra beyond the conventional approach

The contribution of static and thermal disorder is one of the largest challenges for the accurate determination of the atomic structure from the extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS). Although there are a number of generally accepted approaches to solve this problem, which are widely used in the EXAFS data analysis, they often provide less accurate results when applied to outer coordination shells around the absorbing atom. In this case, the advanced techniques based on the molecular dynamics and reverse Monte Carlo simulations are known to be more appropriate: their strengths and weaknesses are reviewed here.Latvian Council of Science project no. lzp-2018/2-0353; Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART

Interpretation of the Cu K-edge EXAFS spectra of Cu3N using ab initio molecular dynamics

Financial support provided by ERDF project No. 1.1.1.2/VIAA/l/16/147 (1.1.1.2/16/I/001) under the activity “Post-doctoral research aid” realized at the Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia is greatly acknowledged. This work was supported by a grant from the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) under the project ID s681 .Cubic copper nitride (Cu3N) has anti-perovskite structure, and its properties are strongly affected by anisotropic thermal vibrations of copper atoms. Ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations were performed in the temperature range from 300 K to 700 K in order to probe the details of Cu3N lattice dynamics. The Cu K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectrum of bulk Cu3N was used to validate AIMD simulations at 300 K. The AIMD results suggest strong anharmonicity of the Cu–N and Cu–Cu bonds, the rigidity of NCu6 octahedra and strong correlation in atomic motion within –N–Cu–N– atom chains as well as support anisotropy of copper thermal vibrations.National Centre for Supercomputing Applications; Institute of Solid State Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences; European Regional Development Fund 1.1.1.2/16/I/001,1.1.1.2/VIAA/l/16/147; Swiss National Supercomputing Centre grant under the project ID s681; Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART

Nanocrystalline CaWO4 and ZnWO4 Tungstates for Hybrid Organic–Inorganic X-ray Detectors

The experiment at the DESY PETRA-III synchrotron was performed within project No. I-20211105 EC at the Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia, as the Cen ter of Excellence has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Pro gramme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART2.Hybrid materials combining an organic matrix and high-Z nanomaterials show potential for applications in radiation detection, allowing unprecedented device architectures and functionality. Herein, novel hybrid organic–inorganic systems were produced using a mixture of tungstate (CaWO4 or ZnWO4) nanoparticles with a P3HT:PCBM blend. The nano-tungstates with a crystallite size of 43 nm for CaWO4 and 30 nm for ZnWO4 were synthesized by the hydrothermal method. Their structure and morphology were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The hybrid systems were used to fabricate direct conversion X-ray detectors able to operate with zero bias voltage. The detector performance was tested in a wide energy range using monochromatic synchrotron radiation. The addition of nanoparticles with high-Z elements improved the detector response to X-ray radiation compared with that of a pure organic P3HT:PCBM bulk heterojunction cell. The high dynamic range of our detector allows for recording X-ray absorption spectra, including the fine X-ray absorption structure located beyond the absorption edge. The obtained results suggest that nanocrystalline tungstates are promising candidates for application in direct organic–inorganic X-ray detectors.--//-- This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Latvian Council of Science project No. lzp-2019/1-0071; Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART2

X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy of thermochromic phase transition in CuMoO4

Thermochromic phase transition was studied in CuMoO4 using the Cu and Mo K-edge x-ray absorption spec-troscopy in the temperature range of 10-300 K. The hysteretic behavior has been evidenced from the tempera-ture dependence of the pre-edge shoulder intensity at the Mo K-edge, indicating that the transition from brown-ish-red γ-CuMoO4 to green α-CuMoO4 occurs in the temperature range of 230-280 K upon heating, whereas the α-to-γ transition occurs between 200 and 120 K upon cooling. Such behavior of the pre-edge shoulder at the Mo K-edge correlates with the change of molybdenum coordination between distorted tetrahedral in α-CuMoO4 and distorted octahedral in γ-CuMoO4. This result has been supported by ab initio full-multiple-scattering x-ray ab-sorption near edge structure (XANES) calculations.Financial support provided by Scientific Research Project for Students and Young Researchers Nr. SJZ/2017/5 realized at the Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia is greatly acknowledged. The experiment at HASYLAB/DESY was performed within the project I-20160149 EC; Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART

Unraveling the interlayer and intralayer coupling in two-dimensional layered MoS2_2 by X-ray absorption spectroscopy and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations

Understanding interlayer and intralayer coupling in two-dimensional layered materials (2DLMs) has fundamental and technological importance for their large-scale production, engineering heterostructures, and development of flexible and transparent electronics. At the same time, the quantification of weak interlayer interactions in 2DMLs is a challenging task, especially, from the experimental point of view. Herein, we demonstrate that the use of X-ray absorption spectroscopy in combination with reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) and ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations can provide useful information on both interlayer and intralayer coupling in 2DLM 2H$_c$-MoS$_2$. The analysis of the low-temperature (10-300 K) Mo K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) using RMC simulations allows for obtaining information on the means-squared relative displacements $\sigma^2$ for nearest and distant Mo-S and Mo-Mo atom pairs. This information allowed us further to determine the strength of the interlayer and intralayer interactions in terms of the characteristic Einstein frequencies $\omega_E$ and the effective force constants $\kappa$ for the nearest ten coordination shells around molybdenum. The studied temperature range was extended up to 1200 K employing AIMD simulations which were validated at 300 K using the EXAFS data. Both RMC and AIMD results provide evidence of the reduction of correlation in thermal motion between distant atoms and suggest strong anisotropy of atom thermal vibrations within the plane of the layers and in the orthogonal direction