Monte Carlo simulation study of reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy of an Fe/Si overlayer sample |
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Authors: | Bo Da Lihao Yang Jiangwei Liu Yonggang Li Shifeng Mao Zejun Ding |
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Affiliation: | 1. Research and Services Division of Materials Data and Integrated System, National Institute for Materials Science, Ibaraki, Japan;2. Research Center for Functional Materials, National Institute for Materials Science, Ibaraki, Japan;3. Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, Institute of Solid State Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, China;4. Department of Engineering and Applied Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China;5. Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale and Department of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China |
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Abstract: | Reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy (REELS) has been used to study the optical and electronic properties of semi-infinite solid samples, aided by a theoretical model of the interaction between electrons and a solid. However, REELS has not been used to its full capacity in studying nanomaterial samples because of the difficulty in modeling the electron interaction with a layered nanostructure. In this study, we present a numerical calculation result on the spatially varying inelastic mean free path for a sample comprising an Fe layer of varying thickness on an Si substrate. Furthermore, a Monte Carlo model for electron interaction with this Fe-Si layered structure sample is built based on this inelastic scattering cross section and used to reproduce the REELS spectra of Fe-Si layered structures. The simulated spectra of the sample with varying Fe layer thickness on top of a Si substrate were compared with the experimental spectra. This comparison clearly identifies that the Fe layer remaining on top of the experimental Si substrate after Ar+ beam sputtering is in the form of a homogeneous mixed layer, where the Fe/Si interface excitation is absent in the experimental spectra owing to pulverization of the Fe/Si interface during the Ar+ sputtering process. |
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Keywords: | interface excitation Fe/Si overlayer Monte Carlo REELS surface excitation |
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