Electron Energy Loss Spectra for Evaporated Carbon Films

Abstract The distributions of electron energy loss (range 10–100 ev) from fima of evaporated carbon, have been studied for a range of film thicknesses from 165 to 835 Å and a range of electron energies from 23 to 70 key. It is shown that these distributions may be fitted, and hence predicted, within a deviation of a few per cent, for energy losses less than about 200 ev and the mean free path λ for inelastic electron scattering is determined for each electron energy. These values of λ are in good agreement with the experimental values of Brünger and Menz (1965) and with theoretical values evaluated using the Bohm—Pines plasma oscillation theory.