Salvat-Pujol F, Werner WSM. Surface excitations in electron spectroscopy. Part I: dielectric formalism and Monte Carlo algorithm.
SURF INTERFACE ANAL 2012;
45:873-894. [PMID:
23794766 PMCID:
PMC3688328 DOI:
10.1002/sia.5175]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2012] [Revised: 10/01/2012] [Accepted: 10/02/2012] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The theory describing energy losses of charged non-relativistic projectiles crossing a planar interface is derived on the basis of the Maxwell equations, outlining the physical assumptions of the model in great detail. The employed approach is very general in that various common models for surface excitations (such as the specular reflection model) can be obtained by an appropriate choice of parameter values. The dynamics of charged projectiles near surfaces is examined by calculations of the induced surface charge and the depth- and direction-dependent differential inelastic inverse mean free path (DIIMFP) and stopping power. The effect of several simplifications frequently encountered in the literature is investigated: differences of up to 100% are found in heights, widths, and positions of peaks in the DIIMFP. The presented model is implemented in a Monte Carlo algorithm for the simulation of the electron transport relevant for surface electron spectroscopy. Simulated reflection electron energy loss spectra are in good agreement with experiment on an absolute scale. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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