title: Prospects for vibrational-mode EELS with high spatial resolution.
abstract: Taking advantage of previous measurements by Geiger and co-workers, we discuss the possibilities and problems of measuring vibrational modes of energy loss in a transmission electron microscope fitted with a monochromator and a high-resolution energy-loss spectrometer. The tail of the zero-loss peak is seen to be a major limitation, rather than its full-width at half-maximum. Because of the low oscillator strengths and small cross-sections involved, radiation damage will limit the spatial resolution if this technique is applied to organic specimens. Delocalization of the inelastic scattering may also be a limitation, if a dipole description of the scattering process is valid.
authors.affiliation: Physics Department,University of Alberta,Edmonton,Canada T6G 2E1.
authors.forename: R F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Egerton