Title: elastic peak electron spectroscopy
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - elastic peak electron spectroscopy
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.09174
Status: current

Definition
Measurement method in which an electron spectrometer is used to measure the energy, intensity, and/or energy broadening distribution of quasi-elastically scattered electrons from a solid or liquid surface.

Notes
1) An electron beam in the energy range \(\pu{100 keV}\) to \(\pu{3 keV}\) is often used for this kind of spectroscopy.
2) In general, electron sources with energy spreads that are less than \(\pu{1 keV}\) are required to provide adequate information.
3) EPES is often an auxiliary method of Auger electron spectroscopy and reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy (REELS), providing information on the composition of the surface layer. EPES is suitable for the experimental determination of the electron inelastic mean free path, the electron differential elastic scattering cross section, and the surface excitation parameter.

Related Terms
- Auger electron spectroscopy: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/09172
- elastic scattering cross section: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/09246
- electron inelastic mean free path: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/09327
- electron spectrometer: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/09329

Source
- PAC, 2020, 92, 1781. 'Glossary of methods and terms used in surface chemical analysis (IUPAC Recommendations 2020)' on page 1783 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2019-0404)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/09174/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/09174/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/09174/xml

Citation: Citation: 'elastic peak electron spectroscopy' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.09174
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Accessed: 2026-04-20T21:54:12+00:00