Electron inelastic mean free paths in solids: A theoretical approach

In the present paper, the inelastic mean free path (IMFP) of incident electrons is calculated as a function of energy for silicon (Si), oxides of silicon (SiO₂), SiO, and Al₂O₃ in bulk form by employing atomic/molecular inelastic cross sections derived by semi-empirical quantum mechanical method developed earlier. A general agreement of the present results is found with the most of the available data. It is of great importance that we have been able to estimate the minimum IMFP which corresponds to the peak of inelastic interactions of incident electrons in each solid investigated. New results are presented for SiO for which no comparison is available. The present work is important in view of the lack of experimental data on IMFP in solids.