Improving energy resolution of EELS spectra: an alternative to the monochromator solution

In this paper, we propose a numerical method which can routinely improve the energy resolution down to 0.2–0.3 eV of electron energy-loss spectra acquired in a transmission electron microscope. The method involves measurement of the point-spread function (PSF) corresponding to the spectrometer aberr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ultramicroscopy 2003-09, Vol.96 (3), p.385-400
Main Authors: Gloter, A., Douiri, A., Tencé, M., Colliex, C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties
Deconvolution
EELS
Electron and ion emission by liquids and solids
impact phenomena
Electron energy loss spectra
Electron energy loss spectroscopy
Electron, positron and ion microscopes, electron diffractometers and related techniques
Energy resolution
Exact sciences and technology
Impact phenomena (including electron spectra and sputtering)
Instruments, apparatus, components and techniques common to several branches of physics and astronomy
Physics
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Summary:In this paper, we propose a numerical method which can routinely improve the energy resolution down to 0.2–0.3 eV of electron energy-loss spectra acquired in a transmission electron microscope. The method involves measurement of the point-spread function (PSF) corresponding to the spectrometer aberration and to the incident energy spread, and then an inversion of this PSF so as to restore the spectrum. The chosen algorithm is based on an iterative calculation of the maximum likelihood solution known to be very robust against small errors in the PSF used. Restorations have been performed on diamond and graphite C-K edges acquired with an initial energy resolution of around 1 eV. After reconstruction, the sharp core exciton lines become clearly visible for both compounds and the final energy resolution is estimated to be about 200–300 meV. In the case of graphite, restorations involving both energy resolution and angular resolution have been successfully conducted. Finally, restorations of Fe L 2,3 and O-K edges measured for various iron oxides will be shown.
ISSN:0304-3991
1879-2723
DOI:10.1016/S0304-3991(03)00103-7