X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy (XANES) investigations of amorphous alloys

The paper outlines recent successes in deriving particular structural information about amorphous alloys from X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectra. Examples of such information are (1) an estimation of the validity of structural models, (2) evidence for three-body-correlations and (3) the detection of preferred chemical bonding and a resulting microphase segregation in multicomponent amorphous alloys. The examples presented help to assess the potential of the relatively new method of XANES calculations and will stimulate further studies of non-crystalline materials.