COMPUTATION OF THE SURFACE ELECTRON-ENERGY-LOSS SPECTRUM IN SPECULAR GEOMETRY FOR AN ARBITRARY PLANE-STRATIFIED MEDIUM

In recent years, high-resolution electron-energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) has been successfully applied to the study of vibrational properties of surfaces and interfaces of materials having a layered structure. At the same time the theory of long-wavelength electromagnetic properties of surfaces and interfaces and their role in the inelastic scattering processes of electrons at the surface has also developed to a point where detailed quantitative comparisons between experimental and theoretical vibrational spectra can now be made routinely. The computer program described here allows to calculate the EELS spectrum of a large variety of target materials, going from a homogeneous thick substrate to periodic superlattices or any arbitrary stacking of layers. © 1990.