Validity of Valence Estimation of Dopants in Glasses using XANES Analysis

X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) measurement is one of the most powerful tools for the evaluation of a cation valence state. XANES measurement is sometimes the only available technique for the evaluation of the valence state of a dopant cation, which often occurs in phosphor materials. The validity of the core excitation process should be examined as a basis for understanding the applicability of this technique. Here, we demonstrate the validity of valence estimation of tin in oxide glasses, using Sn K-edge and L-edge XANES spectra, and compare the results with Sn-119 Mossbauer analysis. The results of Sn K-edge XANES spectra analysis reveal that this approach cannot evaluate the actual valence state. On the contrary, in L-II-edge absorption whose transition is 2p(1/2)-d, the change of the white line corresponds to the change of the valence state of tin, which is calculated from the Sn-119 Mossbauer spectra. Among several analytical approaches, valence evaluation using the peak area, such as the absorption edge energy E-0 at the fractions of the edge step or E-0 at the zero of the second derivative, is better. The observed findings suggest that the valence state of a heavy element in amorphous materials should be discussed using several different definitions with error bars, even though L-edge XANES analyses are used.