Richardson–Lucy deconvolution of reflection electron energy loss spectra

A procedure for deconvolving the energy spread introduced by the primary beam and the analyzer in a reflection electron energy loss spectrum (REELS) has been developed. The procedure is based on the Richardson–Lucy (RL) algorithm. The approach has been successfully tested on experimental spectra by comparison with spectra with an inherent high‐energy resolution. As a typical result, it was found that the effective energy resolution of spectra with a full width half maximum (FWHM) of the elastic peak of ～1.5 eV in the raw experimental data can be reduced to ～0.7 eV in the deconvoluted spectra. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.