Figure 1: The X-ray absorption spectroscopy experimental hutch at NSLS beamline X23A2.
Figures 2(left) and 3(right): Two examples of the XAS data analysis software package written by Bruce Ravel and in wide use at synchrotrons throughout North America and the world. In the center is the Hephaestus program, a periodic table interface to tables of X-ray absorption cross-sections. On the right is the Athena program, used to process and analyze XAS spectra.
Synchrotron-based X-ray absorption spectroscopy is used in conjunction with novel theory and analysis methods to develop, understand, and optimize materials for microelectronics, catalysis, energy science, and other fields. Materials that can be investigated cover all forms of condensed matter from monolayer films to the bulk, from crystalline to highly disordered. These studies offer the opportunity to develop and utilize world-class X-ray instrumentation and detectors.
Awards and Honors
Publication Prior to Joining NIST:
ATHENA, ARTEMIS, HEPHAESTUS: data analysis for X-ray absorption spectroscopy using IFEFFIT, B. Ravel and M. Newville, J. Synchrotron Radiation, 12, 537-541 (2005).
Materials Measurement Science Division
Synchrotron Methods Group
2007 – present: Physicist, Ceramics Division, NIST
Ph.D., Physics, University of Washington, 1997