CONVOLUTION EFFECTS IN ELECTRON ENERGY-LOSS SPECTRA RECORDED BY ELECTRON TRANSMISSION

A general procedure has been devised for the analysis and prediction of electron energy-loss spectra which may be described in terms of two basic inelastic scattering processes, one being more probable than the other. The procedure is illustrated by its application to the analysis of the characteristic energy-loss spectra of evaporated Al films as seen by electron transmission. The procedure accounts for plural surface-volume and volume-volume scattering and the modifying effect of the finite resolution of the energy analyser. Good agreement is found between observed and calculated spectra (23-70 kev energy electrons) for energy losses less than about 70 ev. The method allows the determination of the important energy-loss distribution corresponding to a single-volume loss and provides a basis for estimating the importance of energy-loss processes not specifically accounted for in the fitting procedure.