Atomic background and EXAFS of gaseous hydrides of Ge, As, Se and Br

K edge absorption spectra of elements from Ge to Br in gaseous hydrides were measured at the BM 29 station of ESRF with noise level as low as 2 × 10^-5, so far achievable only on noble gases. The dominant feature of the spectra is the atomic background similar to that of Kr and comparable to it in the quality of detail. Onto the background, a smooth weak EXAFS signal due to the hydrogen neighbors is superposed. For the very simple molecules such as these, its contribution can be calculated ab initio, with exact treatment of the effect of molecular vibrations, so that no best-fit adjustment to the experimental data is necessary. In comparison to the main constituent of the atomic background, i.e. the shake-up absorption edges, the EXAFS signal is of minor importance in HBr with a single H neighbor, but of the same order of magnitude in GeH₄.