Extended x-ray—absorption fine-structure study of anharmonicity in CuBr

The extended x-ray---absorption fine structure (EXAFS) above the Cu and Br K edges in CuBr has been measured at 72, 210, and 295 K. The first-shell contributions were isolated by Fourier filtering the EXAFS data, and the resulting single-shell data were analyzed using the ratio method. It is found that the third and fourth cumulants of the nearest-neighbor distance distribution are quite significant even at 210 K and cannot be ignored when making least-squares fits to amplitude ratios and phase differences. At 295 K we obtain values of (0.37±{}0.05) ×{} 10^-3 ³ and (0.72±{}0.12) ×{} 10^-4 ⁴ for the third and fourth cumulants, respectively, as well as an anharmonic contribution of (0.16±{}0.12) ×{} 10^-2 ² to the mean-square relative displacement. The data cannot be explained by a disorder model in which a Cu ion is allowed to occupy four equivalent off-center sites as well as its ideal position; the non-Gaussian contribution must be due to intrinsic anharmonicity. Interpretation of the results in terms of an anharmonic effective single-particle potential for the Cu ions indicates that the fourth-order potential term is just as important as the third and cannot be neglected. This model gives a reasonable description of the temperature dependence of the second, third, and fourth cumulants.