Deconvolution of loss features from electron spectra

The problem of deconvoluting loss features from energy spectra of electrons emitted from solids is investigated. A new formula is found for the case of an exponentially decreasing intensity from the solid surface of electron emitters. This as well as a formula for the case of a homogeneous distribution of electron emitters is studied in detail. Central in the formulas is the cross section for inelastic scattering. Under the assumption that angular deflection of electrons can be ignored the formulas are exact, i.e. the effect of all multiple scattering events is included. Through numerical calculations on Al spectra the effect of deconvolution is tested, and it is demonstrated that a small deviation from the exact procedure can result in spurious structure in the deconvoluted spectrum.