X-ray spectroscopic study of Mg-Mn ferrites

X-ray extended fine structures (XEFS) of the $K$-absorption edges of manganese and iron in ferrites of composition ${\mathrm{Mg}}_{1-x}{\mathrm{Mn}}_x{\mathrm{Fe}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_4$ ($x=0,0.25,0.50,0.75, \mathrm{and} 1.00$) have been investigated. XEFS features have been examined in the light of neutron-diffraction data on the same ferrite samples. It is noted that fine structures within an energy range of nearly 100 eV from the main edge are characteristic of the cations present at the tetrahedral and octahedral sites in ferrites. Metal-oxygen distances are determined using x-ray fine-structure methods. The results of the present study lead us to believe that x-ray fine-structure methods could be utilized to complement diffraction methods for the determination of the bond lengths in samples containing atoms of nearly the same electronic structure.