High-temperature treatments of niobium under high vacuum, dilute air- and nitrogen-atmospheres as investigated by in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy

exposure were found; however, no evidence for the formation of niobium nitride could be derived from the EXAFS and XANES experiments. The presented results establish the feasibility to study the structural changes of the Nb materials in situ during heat treatments in reactive gases with temporal resolution, which are important to better understand the underlaying mechanisms and the dynamics of phase formation during those heat treatments in more detail.