Derivation of inelastic-electron-scattering cross sections from quantitative analysis of reflection-electron-energy-loss spectra

The inelastic interaction of electrons with sol:id surfaces is studied within the framework of dielectric response theory. It is shown that the inelastic interaction can be characterized by the differential inverse inelastic mean free path (DIIMFP) for bulk excitations and the differential surface excitation parameter (DSEP) for surface effects. Based on transport theory, the inelastic scattering cross section K(E-0-->E-o-omega) experimentally determined from reflection-electron-energy-loss spectroscopy (REELS) can be related to the bulk DIIMFP and DSEP. From this relation, a method to derive the bulk DIIMFP and DSEP from experimental K(Eo -->E-0-omega) is proposed. With this method, the bulk DIIMFP and DSEP derived from REELS data for Au and Cu are in good agreement with the theoretical results calculated with the model dielectric function. [S0163-1829(98)07136-7].