Polarization effects at the Uranium L1 and L3 edges – Theory and Applications

The polarization dependence of U L1 edge EXAFS spectra is relatively simple because the photoelectron is excited from ground state (l = 0) to one excited state (l = 1). By contrast, the polarization dependence is more complicated at the L2 and L3 edges were the photoelectron is excited from p ground state into final states s (l = 0) and d (l = 2). The EXAFS expression of L2 and L3 edges comprises here pure s, pure d and coupled s-d states. The polarization effect at the U L1 and L3 edges was investigated using a single crystal of Ca[UO2PO4]2•6H2O. The high symmetry in the equatorial shell allows to compare successful the measurements with the theory. In a second part two types of applications will be discussed. It will be shown, that powder samples have a texture which can lead to an erroneous determination of coordination numbers. A use of the magic angle allows to avoid this problem. A second example will be discussed where the polarization dependency can be used to determine the orientation of actinyl ions sorbed at mineral surfaces.