New universal expression for the electron stopping power for energies between 200 eV and 30 keV

We report the development of a new analytical expression for the electron stopping power (SP) for electron energies between 200 eV and 30 keV. This expression describes the product of the SP and the inelastic mean free path (IMFP), and is a simple function of atomic number and electron energy. Parameters in the expression were obtained from fits to SPs and IMFPs calculated from optical data for a group of 27 elemental solids. The mean deviation of 10.4% in these fits was less than the mean deviations found in similar fits with the empirical modifications of the Bethe SP equation by joy and Luo and by Fernandez-Varea et al. The new expression is considered suitable for Monte Carlo simulations of electron transport with the continuous slowing-down approximation relevant to Auger-electron spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electron-probe microanalysis. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.