Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 22, 2026

Characterization of Biological Absorption Spectra Spanning the Visible to the Short-Wave Infrared
Published on: January 10, 2025
Solving self-absorption in fluorescence
Ryan M Trevorah1, Christopher T Chantler1, Martin J Schalken1
1School of Physics, University of Melbourne, Australia.
Abstract:
One of the most common types of experiment in X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) measures the secondary inelastically scattered fluorescence photon. This widespread approach has a dominant systematic of self-absorption of the fluorescence photon. The large impact of self-absorption compromises accuracy, analysis and insight. Presented here is a detailed self-consistent method to correct for self-absorption and attenuation in fluorescence X-ray measurements. This method and the resulting software package can be applied to any fluorescence data, for XAS or any other experimental approach detecting fluorescence or inelastically scattered radiation, leading to a general solution applicable to a wide range of experimental investigations. The high intrinsic accuracy of the processed data allows these features to be well modelled and yields deeper potential insight.
Related Concept Videos
Atomic Spectroscopy: Absorption, Emission, and Fluorescence
Drug Absorption: Factors Affecting GI Absorption
Carbohydrate Absorption
After being swallowed, the partially digested carbohydrates mix with gastric secretions in the stomach. However, the acidic environment...
Absorption of Nutrients
Enterocytes, which are specialized polar epithelial cells, line the mucosa of the small intestinal walls. These cells...
Protein Absorption
Lipid Absorption
These breakdown products bind with bile salts and lecithin to form micelles, which quickly pass between microvilli to come in close contact with the apical...

