Electron Energy-Loss Spectroscopy — Inelastic Electron Scattering

Abstract

Electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) is a widely used experimental technique for investigation of the excitation spectra of atoms, molecules, and solids. In this method, advantage is taken of the possibility of excitation by electron impact: incident electrons of fixed primary energy are inelastically scattered at the target, and the energy distribution of the scattered electrons is measured with respect to the incident electron energy. This energy distribution - the electron energy-loss spectrum - directly reflects the target excitations, because an excitation leads to the appearance of electrons in the scattered beam which have suffered a characteristic energy loss corresponding to the excitation energy. If other properties of the scattered electron beam (such as the angular distribution or polarization) are measured additionally (Sect. 3.2, 3.3), the kind of interaction between the incident electrons and the target that is responsible for the target excitation and the inelastic scattering process, can be inferred.