We report on the study of a set of rhenium oxide reference compounds (NH${}_4$ReO${}_4$, NaReO${}_4$, ReO${}_3$, ReO${}_2$, and Re${}_2$O${}_7$) using x-ray-absorption near-edge structure. The parallel use of Re $L_1$ and $L_3$ absorption edges permits a concomitant understanding of both the oxidation state and the local symmetry for these compounds. Experiments are compared with ab initio simulations. A good agreement is reached in most cases. The choice of the cluster size and the calculation method (full potential or not), which are mandatory ingredients allowing a satisfactory reproduction of the recorded spectra, is discussed in detail. In the meantime, these parameters give important pieces of information on the studied materials.

• Received 7 April 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.85.125136