Determination of the inelastic mean free paths of electrons by elastic peak electron spectroscopy in organic samples

Abstract The inelastic mean free path (IMFP) values for selected polymers were determined using elastic peak electron spectroscopy (EPES). Large scatter between measured and calculated IMFPs for polymers has been observed. In the present work the IMFPs in CH 3 - and OCH 3 -substituted polyanilines undoped and doped with Pd of various concentrations using the EPES method with a standard are investigated. This method requires knowledge of surface composition and density. Composition was determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and bulk density by helium pycnometry. Bulk Pd concentration was evaluated by atomic absorption (AA). The EPES measurements using the Ag standard covering the energy range 200–5000 eV were made with the ESA-31 spectrometer. The influence of Pd dopant in polymers on measured IMFPs has been investigated. The scatter between measured and the G1 of Gries predicted IMFPs and its reason are discussed.