We investigated the position of Sn atoms in Ge-1 (-) Sn-x(x) film grown at a low temperature by using the Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) method. Vacancies had been expected to be introduced near the growing surface vicinity of a Sn atom and located at a split-vacancy position due to the binding nature between a Sn atom and a vacancy, which was predicted by the calculation for a bulk model in the literature. However, the EXAFS showed that almost all Sn atoms were located at the substitutional position and did not form a split-vacancy. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.